Memories of Younger
by Schlieren
Summary: Devoney looks back and tells her story of all the important moments in her life. The ones that made her grow...and the ones that changed everything forever. Sequel to Memories. Newly updated-02/02/2014. Please read and enjoy! OC, slight D/G and H/Hr.
1. Year 1, Chapter 1, The Beginning

And Thus, our journey begins! (A special 'Hi' goes to everyone who added me to Author Alert and added The Truth Behind a Story to their favourite story list :) I get super excited every time I get an email telling me that I got another one!)

To start, I want to make sure everyone knows that this story runs hand-in-hand with its prequel story Memories. You don't have to read it first, but it gives you quite a bit of the back-story.

As with all my stories, I love to hear what you think, love it or hate it, please comment and let me know what you enjoyed or what you hated so much you couldn't stand it :) I'm always looking for ways to improve. (Remember when I said I get super excited from favourites? I get 10x as excited for comments ;) )

Enough of my nonsense...please enjoy this first chapter! I can't wait to find out what you all think.

* * *

><p>Introduction :<p>

"Grandmum! Grandmum!"

Devoney raised her eyes from her book just in time to see the bounding flurry that was her youngest granddaughter. She grinned as Ava Mallory flew into her arms. "Well, isn't this a lovely surprise! Where did you come from?" She tickled her granddaughter and glanced up to see Gailen, her second son, leaning against the door frame grinning like an idiot. Once acknowledged he started to cross the room.

"Sorry about this Mum, Ava wanted to surprise you." He leant down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "We found something interesting today."

"Did you now?" Devoney replied, casting a smirked up at her son. He ready did look just like his father, with the exception of his hair. He had the solid raven locks of her youth. Devoney turned her full attention back to Ava. "What did you find then?"

Ava, with a full toothy grin, jumped off of Devoney's lap and dashed to the adjoining hall without a word. Devoney couldn't help but laugh. "She still can't sit still for a minute, can she?"

Gailen beamed proudly. "She definitely keeps Elizabeth busy. I think she's just trying to keep up with her brothers and sisters. She hates to be left out just because she's the youngest."

Walking back into the room, Ava carefully toted in an old fashion wooden box nearly half her size. She presented it to her grandmother. "We found this!" Devoney smiled as she took the box.

"Why thank you Lovey. Why don't we see what's in here then..." Ava climbed up onto the arm rest as Devoney opened the box that now took her spot on her grandmother's lap. "Oh…my…." Was all Devoney could seem to get out as she lifted out the first item in the box, an old framed photograph of herself and two very tall red-headed gentlemen. She brought a hand up to her mouth as she felt her eyes well-up. Her other hand gently caressed the faded moving surface. Familiar faces waved to her and then started laughing together over some secret joke. A large leather scrapbook came next. Magically enchanted to never run out of pages, it held on to every memory and shard of Devoney's past.

"Where did you ever find this?" She questioned Gailen. "I thought this all went missing in the move."

He nodded. "And it did. Ava and I found the entire box for sale at a muggle rubbage sale for ten pounds."

_Ten pounds?_ Devoney fumed. Her entire life's history was only worth ten measly pounds?

Sensing his mother's annoyance, Gailen continued. "Apparently, they have no idea where it came from. They couldn't even get it open. Ava over here noticed our family's seal inlayed on the clasp and brought my attention to it."

Ava beamed up at her grandmother proudly. "I remembered it from your old living room Grandmum. Daddy said it would make you happy."

Devoney reached over and gave the little girl a big hug and a kiss. "You've made me so happy, my dear child." She wiped some of the tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. "So very, very happy."

Gailen leaned over from behind the chair. "Ava was hoping you'd tell her the story." Devoney looked up at him in surprise. It had been years since she had last told anyone the story. She had stopped after losing the box.

Ava looked up at Devoney in anticipation, grinning excitedly despite the missing front tooth. Flustered, Devoney looked back and forth between her son and grandchild.

"I…I don't even know if I can! What if I can't remember all the important things? I wouldn't even know where to begin anymore! What to tell, what to show…."

Gailen reached down and flipped the pages of the scrapbook back to the front. "You could always start at the very beginning." Devoney's Hogwarts letter almost seemed to glow as she looked down at it.

She closed her eyes for a moment. Details and memories she had once thought she had lost forever came flooding back. She opened them and turned to face her son and granddaughter. "It's going to take a while."

Gailen moved from behind the chair and look a seat on the floor at her feet, just like he used to when he was young. "We have the time Mum." Devoney smiled at him.

"Wait a moment!" Ava exclaimed as she leapt off the armrest, and skipped over to her father. After she had plopped herself down onto his lap, he wrapped his arms around her. All cozied up, she faced her grandmother. "Okay. I'm ready now."

Devoney smiled. "Me too." She held up the scrapbook as so Ava could see the first page. "To tell this story, we're going to have to go a very long back. Back to when I was only eleven years old and just about to start an adventure that would shape my life….."

oOoOoO

The Tales of 1st Year – Chapter 1 :

Paul pushed Devoney's cart onto the main platform, looking from area to area in search of the odd numbered platform. Emily held on tightly to Devoney's hand, as if afraid her daughter would float away. Devoney kept her emerald eyes peeled for 'Platform 9 and ¾' amongst the faint crowds. It wasn't until through the corner of her eye that she saw someone blink out of existence that she realized that it was hidden.

"Look! Look! Did you see that?" She pointed over excitedly at the blank wall that the person had just walked through. "That has to be the way in. Let's go!" She dropped Emily's hand and dashed towards the wall, but Paul stopped her before she had the chance to try running through it herself. She stopped and looked up to see a sight that she never thought she would see. Her mother was silently crying, and her father was slightly misty-eyed as well. Though Paul would put it off, as 'I had something in my eye'. "What's wrong?" She asked, concerned.

Paul smiled and shook his head. "Absolutely nothing Sweetheart. I'm just in awe at how grown up you are now." He reached over and took her hand. "We're going to miss you a lot this year."

Devoney started to fidget, uncomfortable with the conversation she knew was going to happen. "Can't we do this on the platform?" She begged. "It's a little bit embarrassing out here."

Emily shook her head sadly. "Sorry baby, but we can't. We're not allowed on the platform with you."

Right then and there, Devoney had her first pang of fear, nervousness, and doubt. Was this the right thing to do? She asked herself. After all, she would be leaving the only life she had ever known, or at least remembered, for a world of fancy that she still worried that deep down it was all a joke.

Paul was the first to notice her change in attitude. "Now then, none of that!" He clamped a hand down firmly on her shoulder. "No regrets, remember? We Callaghan's are strong!" He looked down at her and smiled. "Just be sure to send your mum lots of letters so she doesn't fret, and we'll be seeing you by Christmas."

Devoney bit down nervously on her lip. "Promise you'll write back and send me pictures of Noah?"

At that point Emily could no longer hold herself together. She nearly collapsed on Devoney as she went to embrace her. "I promise!" Her mother leaned in close and whispered into her ear. "And remember, we love you, and if there is anything you need to talk about, you make sure you ask. Alright?" Devoney nodded her head in acknowledgement. Emily released her, and wiped the tears from her face.

Still kneeling she reached up and tucked a few strands of Devoney's hair behind her ear. "I don't know what you're going to do without me to fix your hair in the mornings." Her eyes welled up ever so slightly. "You've always been so hopeless at it. Here," She motioned for Devoney to turn around. "Let me fix it up one last time. You'll want to look nice for when you get to this new school of yours."

Devoney couldn't refuse her mother's last request, so she obediently turned and waited patiently as Emily fixed her long black hair into a nice high ponytail. As she turned around, she noticed Emily taking out a small box from her bag.

"One last thing," Emily opened the little box and revealed a silver hair pin done up with intricate detailing and inlayed green and clear stones. "My grandmother gave this to me when I went off to boarding school when I was sixteen. I want you to take it with you now. Maybe it'll remind you of home."

Devoney felt her bottom lip start to quiver as Emily fastened the clip above her pony tail. "Alright now," Emily started, with a slightly forced smile. "You'd best be off. You don't want to miss your train now do you?"

Devoney returned the smiled. "No…I don't." She moved slightly away. "Promise you'll write?" She asked again quietly.

Emily laughed as she threw her arms around Devoney and pulled her into another hug. "Promise promise. Now go!" She gently pushed Devoney towards Paul's open arms so he could get in one last hug as well.

Pulling herself out of her father's arms, Devoney nodded affirmatively and turned towards the platform. As an afterthought, she turned for one last look at the two people who had been her life up until this point. "I'll miss you!"

Then, with one last wave, Devoney dashed through the wall, eyes clenched tight. Before she knew it she had left the relatively quiet London side of the train station, and was now in the middle of the hustle and bustle of what was to be her new life.

OoOoOoOoOoO

She brushed her bangs out of her eyes as she scouted the area around the platform. _I really should have listened to Mum and had them cut before I left_. Devoney fumed as she tried to find a path to the train. Everything was so different from what she had at first imagined.

There was no set path there to guide her lost self on her way. No bright sunny sky and train to usher in her hopefulness. Instead, Devoney got the shear shock of being thrust into an environment of which she had little to no prior exposure to and an overcast sky that threatened to break open and soak the world with rain.

Walking through the crowds, Devoney did her best not to get lost in the masses upon masses of hustling and bustling people that filled the entire platform. Mums were kissing their children good-bye and fathers were staring off into the near distance, pretending to be detached as they kept watch on the younger children, keeping them out from underfoot.

Searching for the easiest way to the train, Devoney held on tightly to her trunk as she was jostled around and pushed this way and that. Devoney felt a ping of panic as she hurried to the train. She had never realized how scary it all would be trying to get around all on your own. The fact that no one cared if she made it on to the train or not was a startling realization, one that brought the welling of tears to her large green eyes.

Somehow, thought she couldn't quite figure out how she had managed it, Devoney made it on to the train. Looking up and down the long corridors, she realized that that had been the easy part. Now she had another task…finding a place to sit.

OoOoOoOoO

Devoney slide yet another compartment door shut and took a step back. Not one compartment was empty. Everyone seemed to know someone else. It felt like she was the only person who was alone. It was enough to be the final straw in what had been a day full of hay.

Devoney slid down the closest wall she could find and brought her knees to her chest. She rested her head on her knees and then brought up her arms to hide her tears as she started to cry.

_ This was a horrible idea. I want to go home. I'm not meant for this place. I never should have come. I have to go home. They made a mistake. I'm not the one they were looking for. I shouldn't be here. I-_

Her internal dialogue was cut short when she felt the presence of someone standing in front of her in the narrow hall. It wasn't until Devoney heard whoever it was take a seat beside her that she lifted her head slightly and turned her tear filled eyes to see a pair of the most striking eyes she had ever seen staring back, only inches from her. The shock of it all caused her to fall over as she hurryingly scooted away from this imposing stranger.

There he sat. His long legs folded to fit within the cramped hall, casually leaning against the wall. A shiny gold badge rested on the chest of his school jumper, with the sleeves folded up to his elbows, and his hands on the ground holding up his place against the wall. "You alright, then?" He asked. Genuine concern was in his eyes.

Devoney looked away and shook her head miserably. "I need to get off this train."

Her new mysterious companion grinned as he stood up. "Ah, you're probably never ridden on a train before if this is your first year. Come on then, I'll help you find the water-closet." He reached out his hand to her. Devoney blushed, but only out of shear mortification.

_How could he_? Here she was, in complete and utter desolation, and he thought she was going to be sick? Devoney remained frozen to the floor as she shot him one of the glares she had perfected over the years of being teased and picked on in her primary school.

His grin turned into a quizzical frown as he crouched back down. "Could it be that you…are you maybe…" His constant pauses and the faint blush that came across his fair cheeks made it obvious that he was uncomfortable with whatever girly problems he believed once again to be going on. "Would you like me to get on of the girl Prefects? Or maybe one of your friends from your compartment?" He nodded to himself. "Yes, that would work. Ok then, which one is yours?"

His automatic belief that she even knew someone here was enough to make her start to cry all over again. It caused him to become flustered once more. "No no…please don't… Please stop crying. Please, tell me what's wrong then, hmm?" He crouched back down and took her hands in his own. At once Devoney was glad that her face turned red when she was crying. This way he couldn't tell that this made her blush a bit. "Now look at me." He waited until Devoney returned his gaze. "Whatever it is, you can tell me. No one should be this sad on the first day of school. What would your friends think if you were out here crying all by yourself?"

Devoney felt her lower lip start to quiver. "They wouldn't care, because they don't exist." She bawled out, and the tears started up yet again.

"Is that what this is all about?" Devoney's new acquaintance laughed. Devoney's tears stopped for a moment, only to be compensated by her dropped jaw. _How dare he?_ She couldn't help but feel outraged. Here she was baring her misery and all he could do was laugh? She had thought he was a nice guy!

Whoever he was sensed her distress and quickly sat down in the middle of the hall, crossing his legs, and reached his hand out to her. "How do you do? My name is Alec. I live in Wicket's End, I am a fifth year, and the Prefect for Gryffindor house. I like duelling and potions. I have one younger brother and two younger sisters, and my parents don't seem quite ready to stop yet. I would so like to be your friend. Would you please tell me what your name is then?"

Wiping away her tears with the back of hand, Devoney timidly reached back and shook his hand with the other. "I'm Devoney. Devoney Callaghan. This is my first time in the magical world."

Alec smiled back fondly at her. "See? That wasn't too hard was it, then? I'm sure there are a lot of people who would love to be your friend too." He stood up and put his hand out to her once more. This time she took it. "Right then, how's about we find you a compartment then?" He picked up her trunk and started to walk down the hall, with Devoney close behind. "I happen to know of one with a most interesting fellow in it."

They walked until Alec apparently found the compartment he was looking for. He slid the door open. "Here we be!" He turned to Devoney with a big smile on his face. "I would like to cordially like to introduce you to my one and only little brother…Emmett."

With a big motion, he swung out his hand, as if presenting his brother. Emmett lifted his head from the book he had been reading and stared as his brother lifted her trunk and put it up in the rack. He then turned his attention back to Devoney.

"Right. Devoney, this is Emmett. Emmett, this is Devoney. He's also starting his first year." Alec nodded his head a few times before clapping his hands together. "Right, then. You two kids have fun and get acquainted. I am off in search of more lost souls!" With that he gave them a salute with his fingers and bounded out of the door.

Devoney took the seat opposite of Emmett. They both stared and sat in silence.

"So…" Emmett started before realizing he had nothing really to say.

Devoney picked up his broken sentence. "Is he…always…like that?"

Emmett gave her a quizzical look. "Like what?" he asked.

Devoney started to fidget. Had she gone too far? Should she have not asked? Oh no, here she was, and she was already going to insult her first friend and her next potential one would never talk to her again. "Well, he just…I don't know. He just used the word 'then' a lot. And I was just wondering-" She knew she was rambling, but when it was Emmett's laughter was that cut her off, she had a feeling it was ok.

"Oh that!" He shook his head as he chuckled. "I guess from living with him I've gotten used to it. I can see why you'd be a bit put off by it."

"Oh! I wasn't put off." Devoney insisted hurriedly. "I was just curious. He-"

Emmett cut her off again with a wave. "It's okay, I swear. Apparently when Alec was younger, him and mum and dad had been walking through a park and there had been a street performer who had been talking like that. Very old style and proper. Used 'then' a lot, called every one Mam and Sur. Alec got all excited and decided that that was how he wanted to talk." Emmett leaned a bit against his seat. "Mum and dad didn't think much about it at the time, I suppose, thought it to be a bit of a phase. But he's stuck with it." Emmett grinned and leaned forward, as if to tell a secret. "But I'll tell you, when my sisters and I started to talk like Alec, it was put to a quick end."

Devoney grinned at Emmett. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Both Alec and Emmett seemed like really, really nice guys. She leaned forward a bit to examine Emmett for the first time. Though she really couldn't tell because they were both sitting, but she assumed Emmett was going to be quite a bit taller. Even though he had them crossed, she could tell he had his brother's long legs. He had very fine, neat red hair. It was so light that when the lights of the compartment played on it, it looked as though it was on fire. His eyes were so flecked with silver and green that they too looked like they could be caught up in some iridescence storm.

Emmett cast her a funny look. Devoney sat up quickly. She had obviously been staring for too long. To cast off her folly she stuck her arm out across the compartment.

"My name is Devoney Callaghan. You are the second person I've met today. I hope we can be friends." Emmett grinned back and leaned forward to shake her hand.

"My name is Emmett Malfoy. I hope we can be friends too." Emmett moved more forward so he was closer to Devoney. "If I'm only the second person you've met, that must mean you're from the muggle world!"

Devoney smiled and nodded sheepishly. "Is that a bad thing?"

Emmett shook his head feverishly. "No! It's bloody brilliant! Can you tell me about it?"

Devoney gave him an odd look. "What do you mean? Isn't it pretty much the same as here?" She tilted her head to the side. "I mean, other than then the walking through walls, and having to wear a cloak, it doesn't seem all that different so far."

"Oh man! Are you for real?" Emmett clapped his hands gleefully against his legs. "You are in for such a surprise!" He could barely contain his excitement. "The muggle world is so much different from here. My Dad isn't too fond of it, but he's getting better. And Mum has promised that someday we'll all get a trip there." He leaned closer once again. "How much do you actually know about the magical world?"

Devoney bit her lip nervously and shook her head. "Nothing. Should I be scared?"

Emmett grinned. "Ok, there are three things you need to know. Number one," He held up one finger. "Do not, under any and all circumstances take a sweet, a toy, or even a scroll from my cousins. You just never know what might happen. Don't worry though, I'll point out who they are to you. "

Devoney's eyes went wide as Emmett stuck up the second finger. "Number two, never leave your wand at home. Again…you never know what might happen. And lastly, number three." Emmett held up a third finger. "If you ever get into any trouble, call on me or Alec. He'll definitely help you out even if you end up in a different house, and I'll beat up the person who was bothering you." Emmett flexed his right arm for effect.

Devoney laughed and flexed her own right arm. "I think I could take you." She joked as they both compared the size of each of their own scrawny muscles. Devoney lowered her arm. "What are these houses you're talking about?"

Emmett's mouth opened a bit in shock. "You don't even know that?" Devoney shook her head sheepishly, suddenly really wishing she had bought the compendium book about Hogwarts. "Ok, ok." He looked at Devoney. "It is the very first thing that will happen once we get to Hogwarts. The professors will put us all in a line and call us out in alphabetical order. Then they somehow sort us into which of the four houses will belong to."

"How do they sort us?" Devoney interrupted.

Emmett shook his head. "I don't know. Alec refuses to tell me. I'm thinking it might be some sort of test."

"A test?" Devoney's face dropped as Emmett nodded his head. "I don't know anything about magic." She groaned. "They're going to put me in the special needs house."

Emmett looked at her with curious eyes. "What house is that?" He asked earnestly.

"Oh!" Devoney replied feeling rather foolish. She hadn't realized that all of the terms she was used to using, might not mean the same things here. "It the special class for people who are…um…never mind." She brushed it off, changing the topic. "What about these four houses?"

Emmett shrugged his shoulders at the dismissal of the prior topic before carrying on. "Basically there are four houses that you can be put into. Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor."

"That's the one you're brother is the Prefect for!" _Well,_ Devoney congratulated herself,_ at least you've remembered that much._

Emmett nodded his head before breaking out in a grin. "You should have heard Dad when he found out that Alec was going to be in Gryffindor." Emmett opened his mouth in exaggerated in horror.

" 'How could this have happened? A child of mine! Gryffindor? There has to be some sort of mistake!'"

Emmett dropped his act and turned back to Devoney with a huge smile. "You should have been there. It was wicked!" He leaned back against the seat as he explained. "You see, my dad's family has a long history of being in Slytherin, while mum's family has a long history of being in Gryffindor. I guess dad was hoping that Alec would follow in his footsteps."

Devoney nodded in understanding. "Which house do you want to be in?"

Emmett grinned at her. "Definitely in Gryffindor! It would mean I'd get to be with my brother. Plus their house is known for bravery and courage. It was the one my mum was in."

Devoney looked at him oddly. "Each house has a meaning?"

Emmett nodded his head before once more putting on his theatrics. "Gryffindor for the brave! Slytherin for the cunning! Ravenclaw for the smart! And Hufflepuff for the kind!"

Devoney frowned, once again starting to feel discouraged. "I don't think I fit into any of those categories." She commented softly.

Emmett smiled reassuringly at her. "Don't worry. There has never been someone not placed before."

Devoney scowled down at the floor. "Just watch, I'll be the first to not be placed."

"Don't say that. I'm sure however they do it, they'll find some hidden talent of yours that will make you perfect for that house." He grinned at her. "Which one would you like to be in?"

Devoney pondered the question for a moment. "You want to be in Gryffindor, right?" Emmett smiled and nodded. Devoney grinned back. "Then I want to be in Gryffindor too!" She stood up and grabbed Emmett's hands. "I hope we're in the same house! No matter what, we have to ask for the same house!"

Emmett squeezed her hands back and returned her smile with a large grin. "Yes!" He answered happily. The bonds of friendship had already forged between the two of them. "Let's be sure to stick together!"

Releasing his hands and smiling, Devoney took her seat again. "So…what do you do for fun? I was told in my letter that regular electronics won't work at the school."

Emmett grinned at her mischievously. "Do you know how to play Loki?" When Devoney politely shook her head, Emmett grin became almost diabolical as he jumped up and stood up on his seat so he could rummage through his trunk. "Then you're in for a fun next few hours!"

OoOoOoOo

"And how are you two getting along then?" Alec's voice appeared from the doorway as he poked his head in with a grin.

Emmett raised his head from the complicated pile of colourful sticks, mix-matched tiles, and the odd marble that made up the game Loki, and grinned. "Absolutely smashing!" He answered his brother cheerfully while Devoney simply scoffed at the game-set one last time before looking up; she hadn't won at the game even once yet.

Devoney knew it was wrong and inappropriate, but she couldn't help herself. The minute she looked up, she couldn't take her eyes off of Alec. This was the first time she had really looked at Emmett's brother. Sure, she had sat right next to him in the train hall and he had helped her find a compartment, but she been caught up in her own distress that she hadn't really registered any of Alec's traits other than the fact that he was much taller than she was.

Alec had silky looking white-blonde hair with just the faintest tint of red to it. It was longish in length, completely opposite of Emmett's short, neat style. Despite its length, it was neatly done, with the ends completely even in length and just brushing past the collar of his jumper. It was almost pretty in a sense. When he went to brush some of the strands out of his face, Devoney got a good view of his eyes. His striking eyes, which she did remember from her stint with him in the hall, were hard to describe. At first glance she would have called them turquoise, but upon closer inspection she decided that they were in fact pale green. Which, like his brother, were laced with silver to give the effect of constant motion.

Alec nodded and smiled at the pair of them. "Right then, you'd best be getting ready. I've been informed to tell you that we'll be arriving at the castle soon." With a final smile and a wave Alec turned to leave the compartment. "I'll see you at the sorting then!" As the sliding door clicked shut, Devoney turned to Emmett, mouth slightly agape.

"Castle?"

* * *

><p>One last reminder, this should (I will do my very very best) a weekly updated story. So if you want anything changed or any wonderful insights, please comment away! I'll be sure to read everything (more times then not repeatedly ;) )<p>

Till Next Friday!


	2. Year 1, Chapter 2

Chapter two is up! Sorry about the delay...Please read and enjoy!

* * *

><p>The Tales of 1st Year – Chapter 2 :<p>

Once off the platform Devoney and Emmett joined the growing mass of first year students in front of the man with a lantern calling them. He turned to Devoney. "You might want to hold on to my sleeve or something. This way we can get on the same boat."

Devoney looked at him, quizzically. "What boat?"

Emmett grinned from ear to ear with his secret knowledge. "You'll see!"

Devoney reached over and grabbed a hold of his hand and held on for dear life. If there was anything she'd learned from her afternoon spent with Emmett, it was that Loki was rigged, and that in the magical world if they say hold on…you held on.

The group of first years moved forward in a large group, each one too afraid to leave the pack. Devoney couldn't see who was leading the group of thirty-odd people. All she could see was a lantern being held high above any of their heads. Playing Follow-the-Leader, soon they were all standing along the edge of a deck. Devoney looked around. She was just about to ask Emmett where the rest of the upper year students had gone and where the boats were when suddenly she noticed some twinkling lights growing larger on the water. Just like that, all thoughts of anyone other than the people around her disappeared.

Her eyes grew wide as the dozen or so small wooden boats floated across the water without anyone rowing them. She was about to ask Emmett about how this was possible, but the boats had already reached the platform and everyone was starting to climb into them. Unwilling to be left behind, Devoney stuck close to Emmett. Each boat held four people. Devoney shyly looked at the other two occupants in her and Emmett's row. The first boy had dark skin and was looking out rather surly at the black still waters. The second had Asian features and was fidgeting slightly.

Devoney gave him a shy smile, figuring he must be just as nervous as she was. He returned it and looked from Devoney to Emmett before addressing them quietly. "H'lo…. I'm Teo." Emmett beamed at him, eager to make new friends. Devoney immediately liked the boy and the way he pronounced his name; Tay-oh.

"Hi!" Emmett answered back cheerfully. "I'm Emmett! And this," He motioned to Devoney. "Is Dev." Her eyes grew wide and a slight smile fell across her lips. Up to this point, she'd never had a nickname made out of friendship. She rather liked the sound of 'Dev'. "How are you making out?" Emmett continued, completely unaware of the impact he had just made on Devoney's day.

Teo let out a deep breath, clearly relieved that they were friendly. "Frankly, I'm a touch scared. You?"

"I'm doing alright. Hope I get the right house, you know?" Emmett answered nonchalantly in a way that Devoney knew that he was also terrified. Teo nodded in agreement.

Devoney watched the other boy in the boat from the corner of her eye before trying to bring him into the conversation as well. "I'm quite scared too. I'm not from a magical home." She shared a smile with Teo before turning her attention to the other boy. "How about you?"

Taking his dark eyes off of the distance he looked them over very briefly. "I'm fine." He answered curtly, not even offering his name to the group, before returning his gaze to the upcoming castle.

Emmett, noticing the sudden awkward silence, hurried to get the conversation rolling again. "I really wanted to be placed in Gryffindor, how about you?"

Teo gave a bit of a smile. "I desperately wish to be in Ravenclaw. It's my family's house." Emmett nodded, completely understanding the sentiment.

Devoney let her mind wander as Teo and Emmett's discussion rapidly moved onto different Loki strategies worked best. Still believing that the game was all a ruse, and the still-to-be-named other boy in the boat not wanting to talk, Devoney cast her gaze out to the looming castle that only got bigger with each passing moment the boats took across the too still lake.

_This is where I'm going to live for the next 7 years_... Devoney thought in awe. She desperately wished that it was daylight out. She was more than a little eager to explore this new world around her. She was only brought out of her isolated thoughts when she realized that both Emmett and Teo were staring at her rather intently. Quick to hide her inattention, Devoney tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "Sorry, what?" She asked, hoping that there had been a question involved.

"What kind of wand do you have?" Teo asked, lifting up his as he finished his question. It was then that Devoney noticed that Emmett was also holding his wand out.

"Oh!" Devoney eagerly started to rummage through her satchel for the case holding her wand. She was very excited to finally be able to show it off to someone after not being able to for the last three weeks. "Here!" She pulled it out of the soft sapphire blue slip. She held it out for the two boys to examine. "The wand maker told me that it was highly suitable for charms and transfiguration…not that I'm quite positive I'll be any good at either of those things." She added on hastily. "That's why it tapers up to such a nice tip and has a spiral going up. It's supposed to help with control."

Emmett put his wand up against hers. "Yours is so much longer than mine is!" He stated, only slightly disappointed. It was the first time she'd ever seen another wand up against her own. She was surprised to see that Emmett had been right. At thirteen inches in length it was a good five inches longer then Emmett's and over three and a half inches longer than Teos. Not one to dwell on what he couldn't control, Emmett quickly moved on. "What's yours made up of? Mine is cherry and unicorn tail as the core."  
>"Mahogany and powdered dragon heart-scale for me." Teo held the wand close to his chest. "The scale was freely given to my great-grandfather by Shenlong the Dragon in Tian Shan Province as a gift of gratitude for my ancestor's reverence of this lineage. I come from a long line of dragon guardians." He added on as an explanation.<p>

Both Devoney and Emmett's faces lit up in idolization. "That is so cool!" She exclaimed, Emmett could only stare in wonder, to which Teo blushed slightly.

Devoney held her wand slightly closer to herself. She didn't have an interesting story behind her wand…she had got it from Ollivander'sat Hogsmead when she had gone school shopping with her mum. She smiled down at it. But somehow, even after hearing the history behind Teo's wand, it didn't make her feel as if hers was any less interesting. "Mine is made of ebony taken from a new tree and a strand of unicorn tail." She answered as she fondly slid her finger down the smooth length of wand. She loved how the dark wood seemed to capture the light from all around it. It was by far her favourite object out of all the new items she got to buy for school. It was at this point that she realized that not all the wands were made the same. Hers had a spiral carved into it that was inlayed with a lighter wood, Emmett's had an intricate design of dots where his hand would go, and Teo's was carved all over with symbols of a sort that Devoney didn't recognise.

"We have the same core!" Emmett commented happily. Devoney opened her mouth to agree, but was cut off before she could even start.

"We're here." The nameless boy stated suddenly, never taking his eyes off of the water's edge.

Devoney nearly gasped when she turned to focus on the castle. Right then and there, all the happy pleasant thoughts of their wands vanished and was replaced by a lead ball in the pit of her stomach as she nervously realized that he was right…they were there.

OoOoOo

The students were placed in a line in front of the entire student body. Devoney gaped at the floating candles and the ever changing night sky above her, all the while being very careful to not let go of Emmett. Next, in came the person who would decide the rest of her school life; A tall man with short black hair, natural looking pale skin, spectacles, and looked altogether far too young to be a professor. He walked towards them from what Devoney assumed to be the Professor's entrance carrying what appeared to be a very dirty bag. He stopped at the podium.

"Welcome to another new year, as well as a new beginning for all of our first years." He addressed the student body in a steady and clear voice, not an ounce of nerves flickered through it. "Tonight marks one of the most important passages of your lives. In front of you lay four paths you may take. The one you may travel on will be decided on here and now!" He lifted up the very dirty piece of cloth. And all at once Devoney could tell what it was.

"A hat?" Devoney couldn't help but blurt out, perhaps a little too loudly. "We're drawing our future houses out of a hat?" She could hear some of the students from the closer tables' chuckle; she hid her blushing face behind Emmett.

The professor who was holding the hat flicked his eyes towards her and paused momentarily and he gave her a knowing smirk and continued on. "Ah, not just any hat though…this is the Sorting Hat!"

Devoney had never heard of anything more lame in her life... that was however, until the flap of the hat opened up and started to sing. As the hat was singing its song, Emmett motioned for her to come closer.

"The person who came in with the hat is Professor Cowan Adair." He whispered into her ear. "He's muggle-born, just like you. Alec told me that after he graduated he had spent two years travelling around, gaining experience, writing books and what-not, and then Headmistress McGonagall personally invited him onto staff. So he has only been here for 3 years, and yet he's already so revered as a professor that he gets to do the opening ceremony this year."

Devoney looked at the professor standing idly by, waiting for the hat to finish its song. "So that's why he looks so young." She whispered back.

Emmett shrugged his shoulders a tad. "I think that the entire story was made up." He whispered to her. "In actuality he has to be a vampire! You see, this way because he has a boring backstory we won't ask any questions. For him to be so high up at such a young age, no other explanation makes sense."

Devoney's eyebrows shot straight up in surprise. "There's such thing as vampires?" She asked, more than a little shocked. Vampires were a thing of complete fabrication where she was from, and more often than not, objects of fancy.

Emmett chuckled. "Of course there is! I forgot that the muggle world doesn't acknowledge them." He grinned. "You're going to see a lot weirder things here too."

"If the cute couple in the middle would mind stopping their little chat…" Professor Adair voice drifted down to them from the head of the line. Devoney immediately felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment. "I do believe the Sorting Hat would like to get started." He pulled a scroll out from the inside of his sleeve and opened it up.

"Akart."

Devoney pulled on his sleeve, motioning for Emmett to come in close. "What's going on?" She asked

Emmett leaned over to answer. "I think he's going to call the names in alphabetical order, then you go up, put the hat on and then-"

Emmett was going to continue but was cut off by a booming voice as the hat shouted 'RAVENCLAW!'. The tiny blonde girl pulled the hat off and handed it back to the professor before dashing to the table full of cheering people that were beckoning her to her new family.

"Ada." Adair called out the next name.

Emmett smiled at Devoney. "Be sure to save me a spot at the Gryffindor table." She grinned back and nodded. Turning her attention to what was going on, she waited patiently for the 'Cs' to come around.

After Ada came Ashby, then Barras, Belden, and a Byington. It was getting close, thought Devoney thought to herself.

"Camus."

Emmett gave her a puzzled look. One she returned right back. Why had they missed her name? Was it not on the list? Wringing her hands nervously, she waited for the next name to be called. Maybe they just spelled it with an 'e' instead of with an 'a'. It was a common mistake. It had to be that she convinced herself as she waited for the hat to finish off with Camus.

The next name on the list was 'Ceppler'. After that 'Chickering' was called out, and Devoney knew that her name was not on the list. The rest of the names from that point on seemed to go by like a blur. She received a glare from a girl who followed the last name 'Jones'. When she looked to Emmett for an explanation he simply rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded very similar to 'bloody girl'. Emmett held her hand for the most part, trying to console her. But even he had to leave once the name 'Malfoy' was called.

While her heart wasn't completely into it, Devoney did her best to cheer loudly when Emmett was placed into Gryffindor. She was second only to Alec. Emmett grinned like mad as he made his way to the table. His smile fell a bit when he looked up and saw Devoney still standing at the front. She felt a bit better when she saw him save a spot on the bench next to him.

The next name on the list was 'Ochiern', where a rather pleasant looking boy with curly brown hair was placed almost instantly into Slytherin. Teo gave her a small wave as he walked by when 'Okada' was called. Again Devoney cheered along with the rest of the hall when he was placed in Ravenclaw.

Professor Adair looked at the next name on his list and a smirk came across his lips. Devoney almost missed it. She definitely wouldn't have seen it if she hadn't been concentrating all of her will on him, urging him to call her name.

"Potter." He announced in a clear and steady voice over the din of the hall.

An instant silence covered the room that had all but moments before been filled with celebrating. The sudden silence was only to be broken by the immediately following round of whispers. Devoney looked around with the rest of the hall to see who the name was attached to. Why this name was so special, she had no idea. The name sounded familiar to her, but then again, it was a pretty common name...wasn't it?

When no one moved towards the front, Adair called the name again calmly. "Potter?" Again no one moved forward. Adair caught Devoney's eyes from the front of the room and gave her a small smile. Devoney frowned slightly at the sight of it. It wasn't meant as a comforting smile that was for sure. The only way she could describe it was as calculating.

"Would a Miss Devoney Potter please come up to the front?" He announced clearly to the room, smiling more openly when Devoney's eyes went wide.

"But…But," Devoney stammered as every single pair of eyes in the room suddenly became fixated on her. "My last name isn't Potter." She finally managed to stutter out.

Adair gave her a false sympathetic smile. "I am sorry, but that is the name we have on our register. After you are placed you can take it up with your house head into having it changed. Now please…" He motioned to the hat.

Devoney moved forward, but irately. "My name is Devoney Callaghan." She insisted to deaf ears.

"Be that as it may..." He motioned to the hat again. Devoney took her seat as Professor Adair lowered the hat on to her head.

Deciding to ignore the hushed whispers circulating the hall, Devoney focused all of her might to try and get placed in the proper house. _Please be Gryffindor, please let me be with Alec and Emmett. Please, please, please._ Devoney pleaded to herself.

_Wishful, aren't you?_ A voice commented from the recesses of her own mind. Devoney had no idea if only she could hear it, or if she was going crazy.

_You can hear my thoughts?_ She asked without moving her lips, testing it.

_That and more…_ Was the hat's reply. _Now where to put you… _It mused in a manner more teasing then one of contemplation. _I know your mother would have wanted you to either be in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. I often wonder if I made the right choice with her._

_You knew my mother?_ Devoney silently asked, unable to keep the note of surprise off of her mental thoughts. _Why did the Professor call me Potter?_

_I knew both your mother and your father._ The hat replied, ignoring her question. _ And your father's mother and father, and generations past that. Your father would have definitely wanted you to be a Gryffindor. _ The hat was now speaking to itself, taking no heed to the fact that Devoney could still hear what it was saying._ But you are not your mother nor your father, which leaves me to ask…Do you have the right characteristics? You are ready to defend, but you also have fear. You learn quickly, but have a hardened heart and are afraid of strangers. _

_ Please, please, please…_ She begged it_. Let me be Gryffindor! I need to have somewhere, someone…_

The hat fell silent for a few moments. _I'll give you the chance…_ It finally answered. _ But you must be aware that being in this house could potentially lead you into misfortune. Be prepared, the next few years you will have to face several trials. Do not forget that I have warned you._

_ What are you talking about? What trials will I- _ Devoney started to ask the hat, but was cut short by its thundering announcement.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

This time she knew that everyone heard what she was hearing, but this was only due to the thunderous cheering that was coming from the Gryffindor table.

Devoney didn't know if her pleading had anything to do with the hat's decision, or why it had warned her about the future. All she knew was that in her entire life that she had never thanked an inanimate object, and yet here she was.

_Thank you, thank you, thank you!_ She urged her thought along to the hat as it was lifted off her head. She stood up and made a beeline to the table cheering the loudest. She did her best to ignore the constant whispering and the shielded looks as she walked past the other tables and she took her seat next to Emmett. As she sat down she let go a sigh of relief that she had been holding in since her name hadn't been called. Everything was going to be ok now. Looked over to Emmett, who was grinning from ear to ear, the ominous warning from the hat instantly disappeared from her thoughts.

"See? I told you you'd get a house! We even got in the same one." Emmett pumped his fist into the air excitedly. "This is going to be great!"

Devoney found it hard not to smile along with his enthusiasm. It almost made up for the looks she was still getting from around the hall...almost.

Emmett clapped his hands together and nodded affirmatively. "Alright, now it's time for you to meet the rest of us!"

Devoney looked down the table. She had remembered Emmett talking about his cousins while they were on the train. "Is there a lot of them?"

Emmett smiled at her as if she had asked the most foolish question he had ever heard. "Oh, you'd better believe it! Though the rest are all Weasleys." Devoney felt her eyebrows knit together momentarily. The name struck a chord in her memory. Where had she heard that name before? Emmett paid no mind to her slight frown as he continued on. "Only me brother and me are Malfoys."

He looked down the table, collecting his thoughts. "Ok, I'll try to go by family order…" To start he motioned to a stunning strawberry-blonde. "That one belongs to my Uncle Bill and his wife Fleur. Her name is Victoire." He leaned a bit closer to Devoney and whispered, "But never, _ever_, call her that. She demands to be called Vi." Pointing discretely down the table, he added to his statement. "Unless you're Teddy; then you're allowed to call her Vicky." Emmett's face broken in to a massive grin and Devoney suppressed a fit of giggles as she saw Vi trying to get Ted to hold her hand under the table.

"Next comes Faen of Uncle George and Aunt Angelina…."

Soon the dizzying amount of names became too much for Devoney. There'd be no way she'd ever remember all of them. At best she'd just have to remember which faces belonged to the clan and she'd go from there. It didn't help when yet another Weasley joined the crowded table from the front of the room. Devoney thought she might go deaf as the table erupted into cheers and the tiny girl with platinum hair ran into the embrace of Vi, whom Devoney assumed was her older sister.

"Just how many uncles and aunts do you have?" Devoney asked exasperated.

Emmett started ticking off names on his fingers. "Well, only five that I know of. But we're known for taking in strays too." He said as he gave a nod in the direction of Ted Lupin. Devoney grinned. The Malfoys and Weasleys seemed like such wonderful people. It wouldn't be until later that she would learn that the Weasleys had a habit of mass producing.

"Pile on the newbies!" Shouted a very pretty dark-skinned girl with golden eyes who was only a year older than Devoney. Emmett had told her that the girl's name was Addie and that she was Faen's little sister.

For the first time since leaving her home in Dolset's Bay, Devoney felt as though this may not be as hard as she originally thought it was going be. It may be okay. _Although… okay might be a relative term..._ Thought Devoney, as the mass of Weasleys jumped on her, Emmett, and the tiny blonde, whom Devoney could not recall the name of to save her life. Everyone wanted to welcome the newest members to the house.

After that, once all of the names were done being called, everyone was introduced to everyone, and everything started to get set into regular order, a tall and quite stern looking older woman stood up from the center of the staff table. Silent followed her as she cast her gaze about the room. Age and knowledge possessed her every fibre, demanding respect from every single occupant in the hall. Once complete silence filled the room she began to speak.

"Hello, to both students new and students old. Welcome back to a new year and to new opportunities. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Professor McGonagall. I am the headmistress of this school. I am looking forward to another fruitful year, full of knowledge and self-fulfilment. I'd like to take this time to introduce your professors for the year. First off, we have a slight change in schedule. Teaching Beginner Transfiguration in my place this year will be Professor Adair, I will of course still be handling the Advanced class as per normal." Pulling out a list from her sleeve, McGonagall started to call off the rest of the professors in suite.

"Teaching Herboloby will be Professor Longbottom." After every announced name, the anointed professor stood up and the students game them a polite applause. Devoney felt her mind go numb as each new professor stood up and was introduced. She cast a forlorn look towards Emmett to see if he was as lost as she was. Much to her glee, he wasn't even paying attention. Instead he was trying to balance a series of gallons on their sides to make a house. If anything, at least she wouldn't be alone when it came to which professor taught what.

Replacing the list into a hidden pocket within her sleeve after the last professor stood up, McGonagall gave a slight nod to the staff. Four professors stood up. Devoney recognized Adair, but none of the others. "There has been a changeup in the heads of the houses this year. Professor Adair will be taking over for Beckmen this year as the head of Ravenclaw and Professor Skefferington will take over the position for Slytherin." Devoney cast a glance at the tall, wiry fellow who gave off a happy wave towards the green-coloured table. She couldn't help but think that he looked as cunning as a blade of grass. Adair on the other hand…she didn't know why, but even when he wasn't looking at her, she could still feel his eyes following her through the room. "Professors Longbottom and Heartweave will be holding their positions for Gryffindor and Hufflepuff." This time a strong looking man with short brown hair and a excessively cheerfully looking blonde woman motioned to their respective tables.

Waiting for the professors to sit back down, McGonagall re-addressed the hall; her voice taking a sombre tone. "Before we can begin our feast, I want us to take a moment to think about those who have been lost to us." Everyone looked down, and if it was possible, the silence got even heavier. Devoney cast about a lost look before bowing her head and following the crowd. _What had happened?_

After what seemed an eternity. McGonagall raised her head, everyone followed suite. "Now, I do believe it is time for the feast to begin!" And with a flick of her wand that had appeared suddenly from one of her large sleeves, tray upon tray of food appeared right before their eyes. Devoney couldn't have kept her mouth closed if she had tried.

"What…how…what?" Was about as articulate as Devoney could get as she gestured to the plates of food.

Alec grinned at her from across the table. "You'd better get used to it. And dig in! Otherwise these vultures will gobble up everything." It was the prompting that Devoney needed.

OoOoO

After the final dessert was served and everyone had had their fill, the plates disappeared just as magically as they had arrived. Professor McGonagall stood up again, and with what Devoney assumed to be habit, silence followed.

"Now before you go off and follow your Prefects to your own appropriate dorms, I just want to remind you a few things. First of all, Muggle Studies is still a mandatory course until your third year. However, if you are from a magical family and have spent considerable time in the muggle world, then find time to either talk to Professor Skeffington or your individual dorm heads to discuss other alternatives.

"Prefects, you know who you are," Eight students stood up at the address. "It is your job now to escort the first years to their dorms. Head Boy and Head Girl, assist the Prefects with getting things into order. I need to have a word with you both after. Meet me in my office after the Prefects have order." She looked around the hall with a slight twinkle in her eye. "Everyone else, you have an hour until you need to be back in your dorms. I suggest you don't waste it. I release you all!"

Sudden and instantaneous disorder occurred. Second years and up dashed away from the tables in search of their friends. First years stayed glued to their seats, suddenly terrified of all the sudden motion that was happening.

Alec stood up and brushed the crumbs off his trousers. He gave a little wave to a muscular boy with blonde hair whom Devoney assumed was the Head Boy. "I've got this, Robert. Go help Hufflepuff. Deacon looks a bit lost."

Robert gave him a nod of acknowledgment before moving to the table behind Gryffindor's. "Deacon!" He shouted at a frazzled Prefect. "What is this? Get some control!"

Alec clapped his hands loudly to gather their attentions against the hullabaloo. He must have cast a charm to make the noise amplified. Devoney, Emmett, and ten others all looked up at Alec expectedly. The female Gryffindor Prefect leaned over and whispered something in to Alec's ear. He giving her a nod, she turned on her heel and left.

"H'llo!" He addressed them cheerfully with a smile. "For those of you who don't know me, my name is Alec Malfoy. I'm going to be your male equivalent Prefect this year. You can call me Alec, Malfoy, or Super-Wonderful-Fantastic-Prefect Sur!" He grinned at ten pairs of eyes staring up at him in a rather lost for words way. "But I prefer Alec. Our female Prefect's name is Nashley Cooper. And under no circumstances are you ever to call her Nash." The twinkle in his eyes led Devoney to believe that Alec had purposely let this little tidbit slip to settle some personal score. "She's gone up ahead to get the password ready. Now, if you'll all follow me then," He turned to face the large hall doors. "I'll show you the absolutely secret and confusing way to our dorm."

He started to walk, with the first years tottering behind in tow like a row of ducklings. "Dos try to keep up," He added. "You're not going to want to get lost. I managed to _only_ lose one person last year." Alec smiled back at them. "It wasn't a big deal though." He continued nonchalantly with a flick of his hand. "They managed to find him three months later. He was fine."

Devoney turned and stared at Emmett, her eyes the size of saucers. Emmett shook his head slightly before leaning in closer. "Don't worry," He whispered. "He's just fibbing." When Alec turned around and grinned at them all, a little bit too deviously, Emmett paused for a step. "At least…I think he's fibbing." Devoney shared a look of worry with Emmett before they both dashed forward in order to not be left behind.

It wasn't until they were a ways from the dining hall that Emmett finally got to ask the question that had been bothering him all throughout the supper. "I thought you said your name was Callaghan." He whispered as Alec continued to lead them through a maze of moving staircases.

Devoney nodded her head. "It is. I have no clue where this Potter thing came from." She whispered back. "Why was everyone whispering about it?"

"You DON'T Know?" Emmett exclaimed, perhaps a little louder then he should have, for Alec looked back and gave him a stern look before continuing on. "You don't know?" He asked again, this time in a whisper.

Devoney shook her head. "I've never heard that name with it having any significant meaning." She shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, my old schoolmarm was Ms. Potter, but no one even liked her."

Emmett just stared at her, mouth open. "I can't believe you don't know!"

"Emmett!" Alec snapped. "Pay attention! I'm only going to be saying this once."

Devoney chuckled a bit as Emmett blushed at being called out. She leaned over. "We'll talk about it tomorrow." She whispered to him, to which he simply nodded, too afraid to be shouted at by his brother again to make another noise.

They followed Alec through the passages until they came to a long winding stone staircase. Once again Devoney felt like a duck as they all fell back into a single file line, tottering behind Alec. He stopped at the top of the staircase before a portrait of a large woman in a pink silk dress.

"Here is the guard of Gryffindor. She's been here as long as the school as." Alec introduced them.

"Mind your tongue, young Mister Malfoy…" The portrait snapped at him. "It is improper to insinuate about a woman's age." She replied haughtily.

Alec hid his smile behind the hand before turning back to the first years. "Right then. In order to gain entrance to the common room, you must remember this password.: _Duck Duck Hippogriff_."

Devoney gave Emmett a look of confusion, to which he returned with a shrug of his shoulders and a shake of his head. "Sometimes I think my brother is bloody nuts." He whispered to her as they moved to crawl through the hole exposed by the swinging open of the portrait.

Once they entered the common room, the female prefect gathered the four girls together. "I've got this now Alec."

"Great." He gave her a nod and discretely gave Devoney a small wink before he turned back to the remaining six boys. "Now…who's interested in finding their rooms?" He led them to the right side of the room and up a staircase.

Devoney followed the three other girls in her year as they followed made their way to the left side of the room up the tower steps to their new dorm. As the female Prefect, which, Devoney was ashamed to say, she had already forgotten her name, stopped in front of a large oak door with the title 'First Year Dorm' engraved and polished into the wood.

"Here you be ladies." She directed, her strong Northern accent cut through the silence. "This'll be your new living quarters for the year." She smiled at them before turning and leaving the four of them standing there as she joined up with a group of some of the upper year girls moving up the circular staircase to their own appointed rooms.

They remained standing there, slightly intimidated by the large door, until the tiniest of them all walked up and pulled the door open. Her long, white-blonde hair had over the course of the night worked its way out of a once neat braid. Devoney was pretty sure she had been introduced to her as a part of the Weasley clan, but she couldn't quite remember who they all were just yet. As the heavy oak door swung open, Devoney wasn't the only one to let out a small gasp.

The large circular room was lined with four massive four-post beds, made up with warm bulky quilts, and soft sheets. At the foot was a brass plaque engraved with their names sitting directly above each of their trunks. The room was filled with windows, from which the moonlight played across the rug in the center of the room. Devoney moved over to the one directly besides her bed. From it she had a marvellous view of the school grounds next to the lake, overlooking the forest. Bringing up her hand to hide her huge yawn, Devoney glanced around and noticed that she wasn't the only one who was more than a little exhausted from the day's events. The four of them all exchanged a glance before sharing a nervous giggle. They had an unspoken understanding. First sleep…then tomorrow introductions would be had.

Devoney had never wanted sleep as badly as she did now. Following suit of a few of the other girls, Devoney set about finding her sleeping clothes. Selecting her pyjamas from her trunk was one of the most labour intensive tasks she'd had to do all day. Lifting the covers up and crawling under them, it took all of forty-seconds for Devoney to drift asleep between the buttery-soft sheets and the fluffy comforter.

It had been a good first day, Devoney decided with a smile as she let sweet sleep take her. She could only pray that tomorrow would be as good.


	3. Year 1, Chapter 3

Finally getting back to schedule now! Because it took so long to get chapter two up, I'm putting two chapters up this week.

Hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think! (Good or bad! I'm dying for some comments :) )

* * *

><p>Grabbing her glasses and putting them on, Devoney glanced over at the clock on her nightstand and resisted the urge to groan out loud. Her mind knew that it was far too early to be awake, but evidently it had forgotten to pass the message down to her body. Sitting up, Devoney looked around the room at the three other sleeping girls and wondered what she could while she waited for breakfast to start. The taunting hands of her clock pointing to the twelve and the six did little to quell her desire to sleep. With a sigh, Devoney got out of bed and not for the first time, cursed her innate early-morning-person gene that had certainly not been inherited from her adoptive parents.<p>

After getting dressed as quietly as she could, checking to make sure her watch band was securing in place, Devoney grabbed her brand new leather satchel and tucked in what she could only guess to what may be useful for the day. As an afterthought, Devoney also included a thick white envelope in her packing. Tip-toeing to the door, shoes in hand, Devoney was high impressed with the lack of squeaking that occurred as she inched the door open.

Once in the hall, the door safely shut behind her once more, Devoney struck a victory pose before skipping down the stairs to the common room. She'd have to find an easier way of getting in and out of the dormitories. She didn't relish the idea of sneaking out like a mouse every morning while the other girls slept.

Choosing a large wing-backed chair next to a window in the empty common room, Devoney sat down and curled her legs around herself. Taking out the white envelope, Devoney placed the rest of the satchel on the floor next to the chair.

Opening the envelope, Devoney smiled as she pulled out the large stack of photographs. The minute Emily had found out that Devoney was going to be leaving in five months, she had made it her mission to capture everything on film for Devoney to take with her. The end result was over three hundred photographs separated into five envelopes. This one was the first one. Emily was going to surprise her with the rest at random times during the year.

"Your family?"

A voice asked from behind her suddenly, surprising her and causing her shoulders to jump up. Urging them down, Devoney looked up to see the smiling face of Alec; apparently also a morning person, judging by his already neat and tidy appearance.

Sitting down on the armrest, Alec held out a hand. "May I?"

Grinning, Devoney handed him the stack of pictures and moved to a kneel on the chair so she could point out special features. "That's my Mum," She pointed to the tall blond woman with happy azure eyes. "My Dad," a taller thin man with shaggy sand coloured hair was smiling at her from behind a pair of wire framed glasses. "And lastly, my little baby brother Noah." The toddler was reaching for the camera eagerly. Devoney beamed proudly at the picture. "He'll be one next month."

Alec smiled down at her as he handed back the picture. "They look wonderful. You have your mother's smile." He decided after examining the picture for a few more seconds.

Devoney let out a chuckle and shook her head as she smiled down at the photograph. "It's hard to say based off of that picture." Alec's face took on a rather confused look, so Devoney decided to explain. "I was adopted at birth." She answered his unasked question. "Though I wasn't born a blood Callaghan, I've been one since the beginning."

Alec's smile took a slightly different shape as he went silent for a moment in thought. Devoney started to fidget. She hadn't meant to make things awkward. Alec must have noticed her distress, because he covered his momentary change in character by reaching over and ruffling her hair and giving her a large grin. "You clearly all love each other very much."

Devoney smiled shyly as she patted back down her wild hair. "We do. The next picture is of my house!" She urged him on excitedly, eager to show off her home.

They spent the next hour or so looking through Devoney's pictures and sharing stories about their childhoods until the next early risers started to stumble down the stairs. When Emmett finally came down the stairs, very close to 7:30, Alec immediately bounded towards his sleepy brother to question him as to how his first night was. Devoney watched the two brothers with a smile. There were worse ways to spend a morning.

OoOo

Sitting down at the long Gryffindor house table, Devoney clapped her hands together twice as a sort of charm. "I've decided!" She declared, directing her attention towards Emmett who sat down next to her and immediately reached for one of the steaming muffins in the basket before them. "Today is going to be a good day."

Emmett gave her an odd look. "Why wouldn't it be?" He asked as he took a bite out of his muffin.

Devoney shrugged her shoulders as she reached for a muffin as well. Taking a bite of it, she was happy to discover that it was a banana-walnut one. "I've just never had a good 'first day' at school before. So, I've decided that today is going to be it."

Emmett danced his head around in a strange sort of nod, completely accepting her statement and not pressing the issue further. "Okay, sounds fair." He flashed her a smile, muffin crumbs still on his lips. "I'll do whatever I can do to help, alright?"

Devoney laughed a bit as he hurryingly brushed the crumbs away. "That sounds nice." She looked around the bustling hall. "Do you know how we find out what class we have first?"

"Mphfrymntn." Emmett answered, a new muffin clamped between his teeth as he dug in his bag for a moment, pulling out victoriously a piece of stiff paper approximately the size of a card. Taking the muffin from his mouth, Emmett chewed and swallowed before he continued on. "We have Transfiguration first." He passed the timetable to Devoney. "I got my schedule from Alec yesterday, but I'm sure someone will be passing them around this morning."

Examining the schedule, Devoney felt as if she was going to be learning Greek instead of magic. Every class was oddly abbreviated with no key on the side. If Emmett hadn't just said that Transfiguration was first, she would have had no idea what TFN stood for.

She looked up sheepishly from the card to Emmett. "I'm afraid I'm going to need a translator."

Leaning over while munching on his third muffin, Emmett pointed to the next class of the day. "CAM stands for Charms, HOM means History of Magic, DADA is Defense against the Dark Arts, and our last class of the day is Potions-Prep. He pointed to the second column. "When you see PTN it means it's an actual Potions class, but when it's pPTN that means it's a preparation class." He looked at the schedule a little closer and sighed. "I can't believe that we have two history classes on the first day."

Devoney smiled happily at the card. She was happy to see that they would also have charms that morning. Charms was perhaps the class she was most looking forward to. The morning classes were an hour and a half each while the afternoon classes were only an hour. "What does HER and M/WS stand for?"

"HER is Herbology, and M/WS is Muggle/Wizardry Studies." Emmett explained. "That'll be the only class we don't have together. They separated us up by whether we grew up in a magical home or not. Magical people take the Muggle Studies portion, and muggle-borns take the Wizardry Studies section. We're allowed to drop it once we get to third year. I guess it was a tolerance creating class to try and get both sides to understand each other better after the war."

Devoney nodded along without any actual understanding. She remembered the moment of silence for the Great War from yesterday's feast, but other than that she didn't know any of the details. She was excited to actually start the classes. Despite the problems at her old schools, she had always really loved the actual learning part of school. Today they had transfiguration and charms in the morning, and in the afternoon it went history, double defense, another history, and finally a potions prep class. Devoney decided that they put the potions prep as the last class on the day before double potions.

Friday afternoons were left empty, but it was clear as to what was supposed to happen on those days based off of Emmett's card. He had drawn several multicoloured broomsticks all over the space and several strangely shaped balls. Devoney handed him back the card and looked up at the clock hopefully, willing the hands to hurry towards nine. She couldn't wait to start.

Sometime little before eight thirty, the last of the scragglers came shuffling into the hall, of which included the petite blonde from Devoney's room. Emmett waved to her, ushering her towards them.

"That's Tavi. She's the youngest of my half-French cousins." He re-informed Devoney as she sat down next to them and instantly rested her head against the table. "She's also not what you would call a morning person, if you couldn't tell." He added teasingly as he poked at Tavi's head with a set of the wooden tongs that were supposed to be used to pick up muffins, though most of the students had opted for using their hands. Tavi feebly batted it away, never bothering to lift up her head.

Waiting for the doors to shut and for the large clock resting above them to read exactly eight- thirty on the dot, Headmistress McGonagall stood up and drew everyone's attention towards her without even saying a word.

"Good morning students. I hope you all had a good first night's sleep." She addressed them as she put her hands inside of her large sleeves. Devoney thought she looked very Sage-like and wonderful despite the serious look her eyes gave off. "Very soon your house's Prefect will be coming around and handing out your class schedules for the year. Classes will commence at nine o'clock sharp. Tardiness will not be allowed. Today is the only exception for all first years, Prefects, and the Head Boy and Girl. The Prefects of every house will lead the first years in a tour of the school grounds until noon with the Heads patrolling and keeping watch. First years, make note of where you _are_ and are _not_ allowed on campus. After the tour you will have no excuse if you're found in one of the forbidden areas and will be punished accordingly."

McGonagall's eyes made a sweep of the students, pausing momentarily on a few students whom Devoney assumed were repeat offenders. Nodding her head, McGonagall addressed a different group of students. "Seventh years, those of you that have opted to take my Complex Transfiguration for Elevated Spell-Enhancement course, it is your first class this morning in Wing E. That means Ravenclaws, you have just enough to make it back to your dorms and get the required materials and still make it in time for class if you leave immediately." A small smile came to McGonagall's lips as seven students from the Ravenclaw table jumped up and sprinted out of the hall. One Slytherin and two Gryffindors followed behind at a slower pace. Not one Hufflepuff got up to leave. Turning her attention back to the rest of the student body, McGonagall's smile dropped and was replaced with a calm look of control. "To everyone else, you know what you need to do. Have a good day." With that, she turned and left the head table and walked out the staff entrance. Stopping at the door, she turned around once more. "Mister Danford and Miss Koren, I require a moment of your time if you could come with me."

Devoney watched as the boy she recognized as Robert the Head Boy and a girl she had never seen before got up from the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables and crossed the hall and followed McGonagle out. Turning her attention back to the Hall, Devoney watched as one boy and girl from each table now stood up and had started to hand out the little cards that held the year's timetable. She shared a smile with Alec as she took a card from him and giggled a little when he rested Tavi's timetable on top of her head which was still resting on the table.

Emmett laughed as he took the card off of her head. "I'm actually surprised she managed to get down here by herself." He confided in Devoney. "Travet, her brother, told me that their mum usually had physically drag her out of bed every morning."

After ten minutes, all of the second years and up had filtered out of the hall, leaving only a smattering of fifty or so first years and the eight Prefects from the four houses. The time tables had all been handed out. Alec kept checking this watch and casting looks towards the side door where the Head Boy and Girl had disappeared through. Nashly was currently busy talking with the Prefect from the Hufflepuff table. Every so often she would throw her head back and laugh loudly at something Deacon had said. She would then lean in close and whisper something that would make him blush profusely. The female Hufflepuff Prefect was clearly annoyed by this act and kept her arms crossed and would occasionally roll her eyes and scoff at the act. A small girl with beautiful Asian almond eyes and thick black-blue hair that had bangs that cut across her forehead in a straight line approached Alec and tugged at his sleeve to draw his attention. She was wearing a cloak with blue lining that signified Ravenclaw. "Mistress Rachel wanted me to tell you that you're looking wonderful this morning." She whispered in a soft voice, keeping her eyes downcast.

Alec's eyes flickered to the Ravenclaw table where a stunningly pretty girl with tanned skin, and perfect ringlets set into her ebony hair was waiting to catch his eye. She coyly smiled and gave him a wave of her fingers. Turning away from her eyes, Alec couched down so that he was eyelevel with the little girl. He smiled at her and ruffled her hair a tad to alleviate her embarrassment. "You did a good job." He complimented her as he pulled a lolly out of his cloak pocket. She accepted the plastic wrapped sweet with a look of astonishment. "But tell _Mistress Rachel_ that the next time she wants to talk to me, to do it herself." He jerked his head towards the far table. "Go on now Eun Bi."

Devoney, who had witnessed the whole event, didn't know if it was because Alec had known the first year's name, or if he had given her a sweet, but as the Asian girl ran back to her friends, she had a look of utter glee. She also thought that she heard Alec mutter_"Bloody girl."_ Under his breath, but she couldn't be sure. Before she could open her mouth to ask Alec what that was all about, the side doors opened up again and Danford and Koren walked in swiftly. Devoney thought that for a moment that their eyes fell on her, but she brushed it off as first-day paranoia.

"Prefects!" Danford's strong voice resonated through the whole hall. "Get your groups in order. Hufflepuff and Gryffindor will take the outside tour first, Ravenclaw and Slytherin will do the castle. We'll be switching out in an hour and half. I don't want to see any time being wasting. We have a tight schedule and I intend to have all four groups get the full tours." He gave Koren a nod as she moved towards the large doors leading out of the hall. "Koren will supervise the inside tours and I will be making rounds outside."

Alec gave the Head Boy a mock salute, which he returned with a glare. Softening his expression, Danford looked down at all the small faces looking up at him in expectations. "I am your Head Boy, you may all call me Danford. I am not going to tell you my first name, and I don't expect you to use it. You need to respect myself and Koren and we'll all get along very well." He raised his eyes back to the Prefects. "Hufflepuffs, you're starting by the greenhouses, Gryffindor, I want you to start on the opposite end of the grounds. Likewise, Slytherin, you'll take the towers first and Ravenclaws will do the dungeons." He gave a nod of his head and turned on his heel and left the hall to the Prefects and first years.

From what Devoney could tell of the Head Boy and Girl it was that they were very serious. Even Koren, who was taller than any girl Devoney had ever seen, appeared to be quite no-nonsense. She had short auburn hair and horn rimmed glasses that gave her a wonderfully bookish look. Devoney was shocked when she later learned that she was the captain as well as one of the beaters for the Hufflepuff team.

Waiting their turn to leave, the Gryffindor first years once again took the pose of ducklings and followed behind Alec in a more or less single file. Only Devoney and Emmett walked side by side. Tavi trailed behind, too tired to keep up. Nashly, after Alec had to physically drag her away from the Hufflepuff group, took up the rear and made sure Tavi wasn't left behind.

Devoney's eyes went wide for the umpteenth time since she had started her journey as they toured the area outside the castle walls. The school grounds were much different in the daylight as opposed to their eerie appeal the moonlight had cast upon it last night. There were rolling plains to the south, and a large lake that took up the majority of the perimeter to the east. Some of the things Alec was talking about on the tour made perfect sense to her. She couldn't understand why _anybody_ would ever want to go into the frankly terrifying forest that consumed the west portion of the grounds. And the properly named Whomping Willow, well, Devoney couldn't imagine why anyone would even try to touch the knots. When she went to share her thoughts on it with Emmett, she saw his wide eyes and realized that she had forgotten about boy's stupidity. Other areas however, such as the empty fenced off pasture or the area that appeared to be some sort of sports ground with stands, she wasn't quite sure why they were off limits.

Moving across what looked to be the sports field with elevated hoops, Devoney went to ask Emmett what they were, but her question was lost on deaf ears as he and the other six boys in their group had their eyes fixated on the field. Alec simply chuckled and pushed them along, stating that they would all get their chance in a week or so. Devoney rolled her eyes and wished that just one thing in the whole magical world would be easily defined.

Alec waved happily to the Hufflepuff group as they passed each other at the mid-point. Devoney kept her watch on Nashly and Deacon. She wasn't sure if they were dating or not, but her Prefect was making it very clear that she was interested. Devoney couldn't quite figure out where the female Hufflepuff Prefect fit into the triangle. She kept a mixed look of both jealously, indifference, and aggravation at the flirting. Deacon just kept his head on the task of leading the twelve first years in his group and avoided both girl's stares.

"The last spot on our outside tour is the greenhouses, run by no other then the head of our house, the highly talented Professor Longbottom." Alec directed their gazes to the rows of large glass buildings and the introduced the gentleman carrying a large tree.

Putting down the planter, Professor Longbottom expertly blocked the branch that went to swipe off his gardening hat before turning his attention to the new group of students. "Welcome students! I really look forward to teaching you all." He beamed down at them all like a man who really enjoyed what he did for a living. When his gaze met Devoney's eager grin, his own smile flickered off momentarily. Devoney stared back at him quizzically. He hurriedly brushed it off and moved his eyes to the next student in the line. "Don't let me keep you!" He insisted as he gave the group a 'shoo-ing' motion. "You'll all get the long speech in your first class." Hoisting the planter back up, he jerked his head towards the greenhouse with a large '5' on it. "If you'll excuse me, I have to get Wilbur back into the ground before he gets too angry." He smiled at them all again. "Have a great first day!"

Devoney smiled as the professor started to walk away. He was of average height with hair that had stuck up in impossible directions after he had taken off the large floppy sunhat. Years of lifting large and highly unwilling foliage had also given him muscles that Devoney would have never associated with a professor before this. Emmett gave Longbottom a small wave as the group started to move away, which the professor returned with a smile before he kicked open the door to the greenhouse and disappeared from view.

"He was in the same year as my Uncle Ron." Emmett explained as they headed towards the main entrance of the school. "I was given specific instructions from my Mum and uncles that I needed to be extra good in his class." He leaned over closer to Devoney when Alec gave his brother a stern look. "The next part of the tour isn't as good." He informed her. "Alec told me that they're not allowed to take us through any of the secret tunnels."

Devoney's jaw dropped slightly. "There are really secret passages?" Emmett gave her a tight lipped grin as Alec looked their way again. She kept her mouth shut as they re-entered the school for the rest of the tour.

The towers and dungeons tour was harder for Devoney to get her head around compared to the school grounds tour. The nasty habit of the stairs moving on their own, and doors spontaneously vanishing did nothing to help her with her orientation problem. Alec grinned at her and reassured her that she would get used to it sooner then she thought. In what seemed like no time at all, the tours were all finished and they were back in the hall eating lunch and getting ready for their first class of their magical lives.

OoO

No sooner did Devoney and Emmett take their seats in the third row of the great theatre, did a ghost appear from out of no-where.

"Welcome to your first History of Magic class." The transparent ghost droned in a steady monotone. "Before any of you even ask, we will _not_ be covering the Great War in this semester." The slightly emphasised on 'not' beckoned the sudden onset of groans from the class. Of which the professor paid little heed too as he turned and floated to the center of the front stage. "Before you can even begin to fathom the extreme details that took place in the War, you must first know the events that took place before any of what occurred was even imaginable."

With that, he gave a nod, his dead eyes scanning the classroom, lingering only a second longer on Devoney before moving to the next face. "That being said," he continued. "Turn to page six of your History of Magic text." Devoney eagerly turned to page six and had a quill poised over a piece of parchment, waiting to take notes. Now she might finally have a clue about this confounding world!

…Unfortunately, soon the novelty and amazement of having a ghost as a professor wore off. And much to Devoney's disappointment, history classes here was no more interesting than the history classes she had to take back in primary. She just couldn't seem to make herself care about what war was started by which ruler or how the goblin's gained their freedom, any more then she could have made herself to care about Britain conquering whatever country in eighteen thirty three on a full moon.

It was all she could do to take the notes and not fall asleep throughout the lecture. Thoughts of the potions and transfigurations classes that were to follow were all that kept her going. Well, that and the occasional Wakey-Wakey-Lite sweet from Emmett, which had the convincing taste of a steaming cup of hot chocolate and the feeling of having two little sprites prying her eyelids open. According to Emmett, when his Uncles had been creating the Wakey-Wakey treat it had tasted like a cup of black coffee and you couldn't blink for two whole days. Now those treats were on reserve for the upper year students studying for their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s.

At first Devoney was positive he was joking, but with that strange twinkle in his eye that she was starting to associate with the Weasley family, she couldn't quite tell if he was actually joking or not.

The ghost professor paid little heed to whether the students actually listened to what he was lecturing on. Devoney held back a chuckle and instead opted for a hidden grin when she saw Tavi's head nod back and forth a few times before she conceded defeat and laid her head against the desk. Emmett gave her a wink as he reached over and poked his cousin in the side a few times. Smiling, Devoney tried to focus a little harder on the lesson. After all, this was only the first of many lectures she would be taken here at Hogwarts.

Little did she know, however, that very soon the lessons would be the least of her worry.

* * *

><p>Till next week!<p> 


	4. Year 1, Chapter 4

New chapter! Hope you enjoy! As always, love or hate, let me know! Also, if you notice any mistakes I accidentally left in, please let me know! :)

* * *

><p>Before Devoney even realized it, nearly a month and half had gone by. Classes were moving along at a frightening rate, and there was one staircase that Devoney could never find, but other than that, she found that she was really enjoying herself at Hogwarts. For the first time, she had friends, she didn't have to go home to her mother and cry into her arms. There were no mean little girls and boys who would tease her mercilessly for being adopted. Devoney couldn't even remember the number of times Emily had had to comfort her and insist that just because her birth mother could not keep her meant that in any way that Devoney was unwanted or unloved. The only thing Devoney had to know was that she was special.<p>

_So take that Lucy Clair…_ Devoney thought, almost smugly, in the back of her mind. _I AM special!_

She found it so strange that she had only known Emmett for exactly fifty days now, and yet Devoney couldn't even imagine how she had gotten by without him before. He was the one thing she couldn't wait to write home about when she sent the first letter back to her mother and father. She also loved her classes more than she ever had back at her primary school…well, except for the history class…that held the same approximate space in her heart as it had when she was still a part of the British Education System.

Devoney wished she could say that _everything_ was fantastic. She really did…however, despite her optimism some things felt off to her. It was little things…like the way she felt as if she had already travelled down one of the halls before actually walking it, or how certain portraits would do a double take as she walked by. The largest part of her discomfort however, was in the way certain professors and students looked at her when she walked by; particularly Professor Adair. He taught her Transfiguration three mornings of every week, and it was the class she dreaded the most. Which was truly unfortunate for Devoney, for this was the one class she held the most interest in.

The very first class, Professor Adair had informed them that he would be performing a roll call every class in order to make sure that no one was skipping. Devoney had been perched excitedly in the second row from the front, quill and parchment in front of her ready and waiting for notes, and Emmett was sitting to her right. Just like with the Sorting Ceremony though, Devoney's stomach sank as Adair flew right past Callaghan and announced her as Miss Potter again.

She waited until after class was over before approaching Adair. Emmett waited by the door at the top of the stairs, to give her a bit of privacy. Devoney had asked that he refrain from addressing her as 'Miss Potter'. Her legal name was 'Callaghan' and that was the one she wished to go by. Adair had given her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, nor did it portray the sincerity needed to make Devoney believe him as he told her that he would take the issue to the Headmistress, but to have patience…name changing takes time. Things had gone downhill after that in his class. Adair never went out of his way to make trouble for Devoney, but he would hint at things she didn't quite understand or appreciate. Things like how the colour of her eyes was truly a sign of her genetics, or how the school hadn't seen a skill in transfiguration since her mother (to which Emmett had come to her rescue and question how the professor could have known Devoney's mother if he was only 23.)

None of this mattered to Devoney at that exact moment. You see, today something was going to occur that she had been looking forward to all month and subtle jabs at her heritage by Professor Adair were not going to spoil this weekend for her. She was going to be meeting Alec and Emmett's family for the first time. Their parents were taking the three of them on some outing. Neither one of the boys knew where exactly to. All that was left was to wait.

OoOo

Devoney was incredibly nervous that Friday night. She hadn't even noticed she was wringing her hands together until Alec smiled down at her and told her to relax. 'They'll love you, I'm sure.' had been his exact words. It had brought a blush to her cheeks. Emmett was nearly bouncing off the walls of the common room with shear excitement.

"So this is what the Gryffindor common room looks like." A drawled voice drifted into the room from the portrait hole entrance. Alec and Emmett were instantly on their feet. The voice had come from behind Professor Longbotton as he led a tall gentleman into the common room. "Slytherin's is better." Was his final judgment as he fully entered into the room and stood to his full height. As he stretched out, Devoney could see where Alec and Emmett had inherited their lean figure and striking eyes from. Their father had silky looking silvered blond hair that like Alec's, was longer than someone's like Devoney's father. It was almost pretty in a sense and it was considerably better maintained than Devoney's; not one of the silver strands was out of place. He had silver eyes that shined like the mineral and had happy creases cut into his porcelain skin along the edges.

"Now none of that!" The next voice chided as it announced the arrival of the second person in the form of a striking woman with long flaming red hair. She delivered the back side of her hand to her husband's head as she carefully climbed out of the portrait hole. "You said you'd be nice."

"Alec! Emmy!" Shrieked two tiny girls in perfect unison as they sprinted out of the tunnel and out from behind their mother. One of the girls had a head of pure flowing silver, and the other had locks of deepest crimson. Like the ying and yang that they made up as twins, they each contained a set of their parent's eye colour. The girl with the crimson hair had her father's silver eyes, and the daughter with the silver hair possessed the mother's sea foam green. They dodged and weaved from behind their parents and rushed into the outstretched arms of their brothers.

"And how are my boys?" The woman asked fondly as she too moved in for her hug. Her husband stood back and gave what Devoney assumed to be the final details to Professor Longbottom about their excursion.

Devoney grinned at the scene from her spot in the large armchair. She liked Emmett's mother instantly. She had a strong voice, but it had a kind ring to it; and their father seemed charming, with a good sense of humour. It was a good thing that Devoney knew nothing about how the Slytherin house had been like before the war, it could have deeply affected her first opinion.

Devoney poked her head over the top of the chair she was sitting in and spied on the family, careful to stay mainly out of view as Emmett was being fawned over by his mum. Alec was left fending off the attacks of his two younger sisters, who were doing quite the neat job of double teaming him. He would occasionally dazzle them with sparks and the odd bird that emerged from the tip of his wand.

Eventually after what seemed forever to Devoney, who remained hiding behind the back of her chair, Mr. Malfoy finished talking to Professor Longbottom and moved over to his family.

"Alright. All things are in order. We'd best be off." He turned to Emmett. "So, where's you little friend at Em? Dav? Or was it Dem?"

"Dev." Emmett interrupted him before he could butcher her name anymore. "She's hiding over there." He nodded towards the large brown leather chair. "She's clearly intimidated by those little monsters over there." He teased as the one with silver hair stuck her tongue out at him from her perch on one of the armchair's top. Then, with a sneaky signal, one of which involved her doing an intricate set of nose taps and drawn shapes in the air with her finger, she leaped on to Alec's shoulders as the one of crimson attached herself to his knees.

Devoney timidly stood up and moved out from behind her barricade. "Hello. I'm Devoney. It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy. I've heard so many good things about you." She stuck her hand out to shake hands as her parents had always taught her. "It was so very nice of you to invite me to come along on your trip."

One of Mr. Malfoy's eyebrows shot up in surprise before dissolving into a playful smirk that danced in his eyes as he reached out and shook her hand. Despite the incredibly pale colour of his skin, his hand was oddly warm.

"Finally!" Mr. Malfoy exclaimed with a chuckle. "A son who takes after his father!" He teased as he gave Emmett a wink, who Devoney only just noticed that he was blushing a deep shade of scarlet.

Devoney didn't know what to say in response to Mr. Malfoy's teasing, so she nervously joined in with the now infectious laughter started by Alec at Emmett's loss of words. It was one of the few rare times Alec would later inform her, that Emmett had been unable to speak up in his defence. That feeling of happiness that coursed through her veins vanished instantly when she moved to shake Mrs. Malfoy's hand.

Even though Devoney could tell that she had fair skin beneath her freckles, Mrs. Malfoy had paled to the point of being translucent. Her eyes had gone from their calm relaxed look, to the size of those large gold plates their food had been served on at the sorting feast. Her lips were pursed and she looked tense to the point of rigidity. While she tried not to feel offended, as Devoney offered her hand to Mrs. Malfoy, she saw her recoiled slightly, and that did hurt.

"What did you say your last name was again?" All the strength and confidence that had laced her voice only moments before had become replaced with shaky nervousness, the type one gets when seeing a ghost.

"Oh…I didn't." Devoney paused as she slowly withdrew her hand, fully aware that Emmett's mother would rather chop off her own arm than shake Devoney's. _Why is that even relevant?_ Devoney couldn't help but think. "It's Callaghan."

"And you parents?" Mrs. Malfoy snapped. Her nervousness was short lived, giving way to a darker anger. "Who are your parents?"

"Paul and Emily Callaghan." Devoney cursed herself for the slight falter in her voice. It made her sound every bit as scared as she really was.

"Muggle or Wizard?" Each question came shooting out after each other. Her green eyes were blazing.

"Mum!" Emmett exclaimed, interrupting his mother's angry barrage. "I told you Devoney was muggle born. What's wrong with you?" He turned to Devoney. "I'm so sorry Dev," he apologized. "She's not normally like this."

"No…she isn't." Mr. Malfoy's voice took a different turn, one of warning. "Ginny-" He started, his eyes searching hers.

"I'm fine Draco." The smile she put on didn't match the cold tone of her voice. "I just wanted to say goodbye to my babies before you all leave. I'm so sorry that I won't be able to stay the weekend."

"WHAT?" Cried out the younger Malfoy children in dismay. Alec only raised his eyebrows in surprise as he crossed his arms in silence, a trait surely picked up from his father.

"…What?" Drawled out an echo from Mr. Malfoy. His tone cool, and implied a feeling of more intrusive suspicion and just a hint of anger versus that of the shrill disappointment of that of their children.

"I told you before Draco," Her tone just as cold. "Work wouldn't give me the weekend off. I hope you all have a wonderful time."

"It was a pleasure meeting you Mrs. Malfoy." Devoney piped up and interjected as one last attempt of pleasantries to the red-headed woman. Devoney desperately wanted to get along with Emmett's family.

The look she cast on to Devoney was anything but warm. With a cold stare, she looked as if she was memorizing every little detail of Devoney. From her thick black hair, put nice into a neat braid by Tavi, (Emily had been right, Devoney was absolutely useless with her hair.) to her black elongated pentagon spectacles and her tiny figure. There was a special focus on Devoney's emerald eyes, which were large and cowering slightly under the attack. Devoney started to fidget with the thick watch band that covered her unusual birthmark on her wrist. She always started to wring her hands and wrists when she was getting bullied.

"And you as well." Was all Mrs. Malfoy replied back through pursed lips before she turned on her heel and moved gracefully through the portrait hole. Her silver cloak circled around behind her, giving an effect that Devoney thought she was floating.

"Diablo…" Devoney hissed silently through her teeth, before stopping startled. Where had she heard that before? Like a sneeze that wouldn't come out. That word played at the back of her mind, unresolved.

After a tense moment of silence as the Malfoy family watched in shock, it was Mr. Malfoy that finally broke the dead silence. "We'd best be going too, if we're to make it before it gets too dark." With a fleeting shudder, one that Devoney wasn't entirely sure was only for candid relief, he finished. "I don't know how much longer I can stand being in my arch-house's common room."

With small smiles, Alec and Emmett slowly gathered their bags. Devoney held back, hands still clenched tight together.

"Are you sure it's alright if I still come?" She asked in a meek voice which she hated, but it was the only tone that seemed to want to come out. Her cheeks flushed as all of the attention was suddenly focused on her. "I mean, I don't want to cause trouble, and if I hadn't been here than your mum might not have left and-"

"Now, none of that!" Interrupted Mr. Malfoy. "Girls!" He commanded with a snap of his fingers. The duo detached themselves from Alec and posed in mock-attention. "Her bags." Mr. Malfoy commanded. Within an instant, the two girls in a flurry of crimson and silver, had attached themselves to Devoney's leather messenger bag.

"Mission Accomplished, Ser!" The silver one answered back as she and her crimson counterpart were giving a salute in the direction of their father.

"At ease." He directed them with a smirk and a nod before turning on Devoney. "Now listen to me," Mr. Malfoy started as he squatted down a bit so he was looking Devoney directly in the eyes. "If we didn't want you to come, I would have said so sooner." He tilted his head as if stating a well-known fact. "I, for one, am not known for beating around the bush."

"But-"

"No buts. You have been invited by a Malfoy. And one does _NOT_ refuse a Malfoy's invitation." Now as he said this, Devoney could have imagined it coming off harsh, and conceited. Yet his overly exaggerated expressions and the sparkle that lit his eyes, Devoney could only smile along with him.

If anyone had told her that the Malfoy name had be synonymous with that of dark magic, or that Draco had been quite the bully growing up, Devoney would have most likely laughed right in their face.

"So, where are we going Dad?" Emmett piped up as they all left the common room and started down the stairs.

With a smirk on his lips, Mr. Malfoy only said one word. "Draedensby."

OoO

Draedensby, as it so happened, was one of the few co-existing magic and non-magical communities. It had become a favourite retirement town for the parents of muggle-born witches and wizards who wanted to be closer to their grandchildren.

Draedensby rested soundly and picturesque in front of a looming gothic style castle, which Mr. Malfoy had been proud to point out, had been in his family for over eight generations…though only occupied for five. It had been abandoned around the point that muggles, those with prior knowledge of magical existences, had begun to relocate there.

They had arrived late that Friday night. Mr. Malfoy had swiftly sent them each to their assigned rooms, Alec and Emmett in one, Draco kept both of the small girls with him, and Devoney got her own room. After a few minutes of tossing and turning in her small room, it took all of Devoney's inner will power to shift the thoughts from the last few hours away and concentrate on sleeping. After what had seemed like moments after shutting her eyes, she was being bombarded with muffins by Tamsyn (the crimson), and getting pulled out of bed by Kiel (the silver). Apparently they were not allowed to leave the hotel until everyone was awake, so Devoney was their first target. Next thing she knew, she was joined by a groggy Emmett and a far too awake Alec and were following Mr. Malfoy down the street.

Devoney was dazzled by the intermingling aspects of both of her worlds. A high end coffee house broadcasting all sorts of shows on its many televisions was nestled between an Apothecary and a broomstick supply shop.

Inside the coffee shop, a woman in a nice suite bantered on with a man in a cloak over why Quidditch should be allowed to be recorded for the tele. Devoney listened in on their conversation as she and the Malfoy clan walked by.

'Not everyone,' she informed him, 'could ask for the day off because their son was playing for the Moose Jaw Meteorites in the Quidditch Cup.'

A digital beep from a pocket phone ushered that it was now time for the lady to leave.

"I'll be back in time for supper." She stated as the man stood up and gave her a quick kiss.

"Have a good day." With a smile and a wave she left the store and made her way to the parking lot. Her husband simply 'popped' out of existence.

No sooner had they gotten ten minutes away from their rooms at the inn, Mr. Malfoy had to leave to take his two youngest in search of a rest room. Tamsyn and Kiel had both apparently acquired a case of tiny bladder. They both had been quite aghast that their father had even suggested the idea that they use the restrooms before they left. _They_ did not need to use the restroom, they had informed him. This, of course, lasted only as long as it took until they came across the large fountain in the center of the town.

"Daddy," Kiel had tugged at her father's sleeve. Her flushed cheeks matched her sister's hair. "I have to go pee."

Tamsyn came quick to the rescue of her mortified twin as she grabbed her father's other sleeve. "Me too Daddy, me too!" She announced, pulling down on him roughly.

Alec, as he was then volun-told, was to be Devoney and Emmett's chaperone as Mr. Malfoy hurried back to the hotel with his youngest two. Alec led them good naturedly down the streets of the magical town, pointing out interesting little tidbits about certain areas as they passed them. As they continued to walk through the town, Devoney felt herself pulled towards the petshop. A sense of electricity filled the air the closer they came to the store with stained glass windows.

Alec smiled down at her as he noticed her inquiring stare to the shop's sign: _Pets-r-Us_. "We can go in if you'd like." Devoney looked from Alec to the store. She really wanted to go in, but on the other hand, she also didn't want to make the others wait. Alec, sensing her predicament, laughed and pushed both her and Emmett towards the store. "Alright then, in we go!"

A bell gave a single chime as the entered the brightly light store, thought Devoney couldn't quite figure out how that worked. Cages blocked the lone window at the front, and not a lamp or candle was to be seen throughout the shop. Rather than question all the absurdities of the magical world, Devoney started to browse through the many, many cages.

Cats, rats, dogs, and mice, the odd snake, and even a lone squirrel filled the floor. Enough birds to fill an aviary and several bats lined the rafters of the high roofed building. Upon entering the store, Emmett had dashed to the large display case in the center of the shop containing a ten foot long python. Devoney could never understand his fascination with snakes. Personally, Devoney preferred to stay away from them. With a shutter and a carefully watchful eye on the snake, as if to make sure it wasn't to escape its cage, Devoney made to move as far away as she possibly could from it.

Once positive she was safe from a slithery doom, Devoney started to examine some of the more approachable creatures. She had asked Emily in her last letter if it would be acceptable to bring home a pet someday and she had gotten the green light. This didn't mean that she was going to buy an animal here today, but it never hurt to look. Besides, Devoney reasoned, she didn't even know what kind of pet she wanted. Dogs weren't allowed on the school premises unless they were Pidgy Pocket Puppy Poodles, but who really wanted a five-inch sized dog? Snakes were of course out, as were many of the amphibian and reptile genus. She liked cats, but everyone seemed to have them. The red squirrel was different, but when Devoney reached her hand out to pet it, it dashed high into the rafters. This was a direct signal as to how it was going to be in the future. Devoney decided to keep walking around.

Her attention was drawn to a fancy bed holding a dozen sleeping kittens. Crouching down, Devoney stared at them hard. They hardly even looked as if they were breathing. Devoney ran her hands over a few of them just to make sure. The minute she took her hand away, one of the middle kittens gave off a gigantic yawn and then proceeded to stretch itself out over the other sleepy kittens. Devoney watched the small animal with amusement as it shook itself out. That was however, until it cast its large green eyes up to Devoney's own green ones.

Devoney didn't know how to explain the feeling. The moment the kitten had caught her eyes, a connection was made. There was a click, a spark, an unexplainable feeling that this kitten was _hers_ and hers alone. Reaching her arm down slowly, Devoney extended her fingers for the kitten to smell. It did, and then looked up at her with a look far more knowledgably than Devoney had ever seen on a cat before.

"Well…you've gone and done it now!" A voice announced behind her.

Springing up, Devoney stood as straight as she could at the same time tried to shriek back. She stared at the floor sheepishly as the worker at the pet store reached down and picked up the tiny black ball of fur and fluff who immediately started to mew as loudly as it could when she did.

Devoney studied the woman as she picked up the kitten. She was essentially a cornucopian of colour. There wasn't one single piece of her that matched, or a piece that didn't stand out. At the same time however, Devoney thought she looked stunning. Her long thick hair was the colour of raspberry juice that stained your fingers. She had large golden eyes that were framed by a pair of green square glasses. She had light pink tint on her lips and a startling shade of turquoise on her eyes. She wore a dark blue tunic dress with red buttons down the front with floral tights and ruby slipper flats. The whole ensemble was completed by the purple pet store apron wrapped around her waist, and the peacock feather fascinator pinned in her hair. Devoney swore she saw a tattoo peeking out of the folded half sleeves, but she couldn't be sure. She had never seen such a woman before, but she hoped it wasn't the last time.

"Do you know what you have just done?" The pet store lady asked. A quick glance at her nametag informed Devoney that her name was 'Everly'.

Ashamed, Devoney shook her head. "I'm sorry."

If she had been looking up, she would have seen the stern look of mock-disapproval disappear in an instant as she could no longer keep up the act. "Oh, chin up girl." A new cheerful voice took over. "I was only teasing you." Devoney's head snapped up fast enough to catch the kitten that Everly dropped into her arms. "It's not a bad thing. I was just wondering if you knew what you have done."

Confused was an understatement. Devoney looked from the multiple splashes of colour that made up Everly to the small black creature that was curling up to go back to sleep in the nook of her elbow. "I…you…what?" She finally managed to stammer.

"You, my dear, are now the proud owner of a '_choicey'_" Everly declared happily. "I wasn't sure if an owner would ever come for one of these little guys."

"I'm sorry…" Devoney interrupted. "I don't understand. What's a choicey?" By this time, Emmett and Alec had noticed the scene and were making their way over.

"Ah, you must be a muggle born." Everly deducted. "A choicey is essentially the origin behind the muggle stories of 'familiars'. Do you know what a familiar is?"

Devoney nodded. "Yes. Witches were always supposed to have a cat or bat or some sort of witchy creature to assist them in their spell making." She looked down at the tiny kitten. "Are you saying that this is a familiar?" She asked, fully aware of how silly that sounded, but she couldn't ignore the instantaneous feeling of connection she had had mere minutes before.

"Well…" Everly brought a hand to her chin and pondered the question for a moment. "Yes and no. You see choiceys have only one owner. Each one is born with a certain person already connected to them. They will stay asleep until they find that person, no one else will do. They make for loving, immensely loyal, and helpful creatures."

Devoney felt herself petting the fluffy kitten. "What happens if it never meets its designated owner?" She asked. She had been this close to not coming into the store. Would her kitten never have woken up?

Everly cheery smile fell into a sad look. "They will stay in their eternal slumber until the connection is broken." Devoney looked down at the kitten. She didn't need to hear the shop keep tell the rest. She understood what she meant by broken connection. "But we don't have to worry about that now!" Everly fell back into 'happy' mode. "Even if you decided you didn't want a cat, she would follow you until the ends of the earth. Come on," She gave Devoney a little push towards the front of the store. We have some paper work and supplies we need get set up for you before you can leave.

Devoney followed the store clerk in a bit of a daze. She saw and noted the massive grin on Emmett's face as well as the look of awe from Alec, but the whole walk felt like a bit of a daze. She understood as the lady of colour handed her bag upon bag of food and litter. She started to pile the whole thing into the wooden box. As a choicey, the kitten would not need the normal vaccinations or other treatments, Everly informed her. Choiceys were naturally resistant to all sorts of illnesses. Shy of physical injury, the kitten would live as long as she did. When they were at the counter, Devoney started to count out the gold and silver coins from her purse as the walking tornado of colour wrote some things down on several pieces of paper.

"Because we have to register all choicey that are awaken with the M.C.A., I'll need a signature here." Everly slid a piece of parchment and a quill towards Devoney. When Devoney glanced down at the page and up again with a look of utter confusion, Everly chuckled. "Magical Creature Association. They just like to keep tabs on specific animals and will occasional make sure you aren't abusing your little treasure here. Have you thought of a name?"

She hadn't, but when she looked at the kitten, who resting happily in the soft pillow placed in the box along with a few toys, she knew…the same way she had known the minute the kitten had looked at her that they were fated to be together, she knew what the kitten was called.

"Min." She answered, rubbing the now dubbed _Min_ behind the ears. "Her name is Min."

OoO

The moment they had all the paper work signed and items packed out, Devoney walked out of the store, box in Emmett's arms, and kitten cradled in her arms. A shrill 'Kitty!' was heard from a block away as Kiel came running towards them, Tamsyn and Draco close in suite. Devoney grinned at the two hurricanes raced towards her and then stopped suddenly a few feet away and approached very slowly, reaching up to carefully pet the small, very sleepy cat.

No more than a second of thought, Tamsyn spun around and raced back towards Draco. "I want a kitty Daddy, pretty please?"

Not to be left out, Kiel gave Min one last pet before dashing towards her father as well in order not to be left out of potential fluffy obtaining. "Me too Daddy, me too! I want a kitty!"

Alec grinned at the spectacle and at his father's obvious distress over the twin's begging. "Now, if you'll excuse me," He started with a nod of his head towards a very flabbergasted Draco. "I think our father could use some assistance." He gave the kitten a small pet before moving to rescue his father from his complete lack of denying ability when it came to his daughters. This left only Devoney and Emmett alone.

"I swear…" Deovney announced with a laugh. "It's like this cat makes people go crazy!" She jerked her head towards the scene before them of the two little girls pleading with their father. It completely amazed Devoney of the amassed energy that could be contained in to very small bodies.

"You should see them after visiting a sweet shop." Emmett joked as he placed the box of kitten supplies down on the street and gave the kitten a rub behind its ears and scratched softly underneath her chin. It responded by giving a mighty stretch and encouraged Emmett to pet it more.

Right there, at that moment…watching Alec toss his sisters and round and Draco hide with his hand over his ear, and with Emmett at her side…life seemed perfect. The nasties with Emmett's and Alec's mother and the oddities with Professor Adair, all seemed so very far away. At that moment it felt as if nothing could go wrong.

…unfortunately, moments never last.

* * *

><p>Till next time!<p>

-Samantha


	5. Year 1, Chapter 5

Yikes it took me way longer to update this then I had even anticipated. This one is for you Reddevilrabbani! :) Hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p>That weekend marked a change in the path Devoney would have taken throughout Hogwarts. To be more precise, it marked a change in the way her life would have been before she met Ginny Malfoy, because like it or not, that woman was going to be the catalyst that would alter everything.<p>

After the weekend escape, things fell back into a routine. Classes came and went, a Halloween party was experienced, and Devoney now understood why the boys had been so excited by the sports ground from their tour on the first day; flying lessons had started. She still didn't get along with Professor Adair, nor she couldn't quite shake the feeling that Professor Longbottom would look at her funny every so often during class. Overall however, things seemed to be falling in place, and she was happy. Looking back at the events now, Devoney only wished she had had the knowledge to see what was going on in the background.

Things took a turn for the strange around the second week of November. A desolate Emmett stared up at the Great Hall ceiling and winced with every falling drop. It was Friday, and his hopes for flying later that afternoon were falling steadily, just like the rain. Today was a special flying day as well. It was their second last lesson, everything had been planned out. Afternoon classes were cancelled for all the first years, extra broomsticks had been acquired, and after much debate, the Quidditch Field had been booked solely for them. Apparently however, the weather had different plans for them.

"Cheer up Em..." Devoney tried to comfort her friend. "You never know. It could still clear up!" She added as she patted his shoulder.

Emmett gave her a weak smile. "Yeah...maybe you're right."

They both knew that she wasn't though. The large black clouds overhead had no intention of leaving. Heavy drops were beating down upon the high room, and every so often the sky would light up momentarily before crashing thunder followed the lightening across the sky. There would be no flying that day.

"Mornin'." Alec addressed them with a yawn as he took a seat next to Emmett and across from Devoney. He must have had a late night. Devoney had never seen Alec look anything shy of ten shades of chipper in the mornings, let alone yawning. "Shoddy weather, no?"

"And it had to be on a Friday!" Emmett whined as he knocked his head against the table; much to the amusement of Devoney and his brother. No matter how put together Emmett was when he was with Devoney alone, the minute his older brother showed up it was his excuse to start acting his age.

They shared a chuckle and started to eat their breakfasts. Devoney was mildly distracted. She kept her eyes fixed to the small opening at the top of the ceiling. It was after all the second Friday of the month. Today was the day she was getting her care package from her Mum and Dad, and the post was never late; rain or not. She supposed that was why she was able to catch it.

Emmett had been too caught up in inevitable cancelation of flying class and Tavi had been all but asleep with her head on the table. Victorie and Trevet were talking very fast and very adamantly over something in French a little ways down the table, Teddy's full attention was directed to the bowl of cereal in front of him, and all three of the dark skinned Weasleys were eating breakfast at other tables. When the owls came in to deliver the post, the Weasley clans paid little to no attention to them before turning back to their current tasks.

When a giant tawny owl came down with a *thud* in front of her, Devoney eagerly untied the box from one of the school owl's legs. She offered it a slice of bacon from the tray and a ruffle of his feathers. He accepted the bacon, but ignored her hand and instead chose to fly off. Devoney grinned down at the package and then looked around the table to share her glee. That was when she saw it. Alec had gotten three letters. One was from the Malfoy family owl, a majestic Great Horned Owl. Devoney had been shocked the first time she had seen it, but now wondered how she had ever pictured a different owl for Mr. Malfoy. Another was delivered by an owl she did not recognise; nor did it have the school collar on it. It waited as long as it took Alec to untie the maroon ribbon holding the letter before it took off. The last was by an eagle owl. Again she didn't recognise it, but Alec appeared to. It was the only letter he smiled as he untied it. It held the smallest letter, a simple scroll sealed with a drop of yellow wax. The seal was perfectly visible, even across the table; it was a winged dragon. It was also the only letter Alec opened at the table.

Devoeny studied the older boy for a few moments as his face lit up when he read the short note. Her curiosity towards the other two letters was very strong, but it wasn't in her to pry. "Good news?" She asked instead, hoping it make him more open to talking about the other two letters.

Alec grinned massively at her. "The best." He answered without any mocking. "Emmy..." He drew the attention of his distraught brother who was pouting and moving his eggs around on his plate with his fork. "Charlie's coming tomorrow."

Devoney watched as Emmett's eyes positively started to shimmer. "Who's Charlie?" She asked.

Emmett beamed at her. "Only the coolest uncle EVER!" Devoney couldn't resist a chuckle at his re-excited state.

Alec leaned across the table. "Charlie is one of our older uncles. He used to work with dragons." He held up the wax seal as if it somehow explained everything. "He always has the neatest things to show."

Devoney nodded her acknowledgement. "But why is he coming to Hogwarts?"

Alec's brow furled momentarily and was joined by a though provoked frown. It didn't last long. Devoney wouldn't have even noticed it if she hadn't been staring. "It doesn't say. Hopefully nothing too important." His smile came back. "He's grand. You'll like him for sure."

Devoney grinned back. It was turning into a bad habit. Every time Alec smiled at her, she had to grin in response. She opened her mouth to ask more, but was interrupted by the sounding of the large bell that rang throughout the school; signalling that it was now 8 o'clock, and that classes were going to start soon.

Alec was up and slipping the strap of his satchel over his shoulder. "Have a great day!" He gave the pair of them a small wave. Devoney watched as Teddy too got up and joined Alec as they walked towards the great doors together. With a groan, even Tavi started to stir. They left for class, the mail event fluttered out of her mind as they headed towards their first class.

OoOo

By time lunch rolled around, the heavens had literally split open. If someone had told Devoney that the weather gods were attempting to flood the better part of the British Isles, she would have completely believed them. The rain seemed never ending.

"Guess that's it than, huh?" Emmett asked to no one in particular. Their flying lessons were drawing to a close. Soon they wouldn't have any more opportunities to fly unless they made the house quidditch team in their second year. Devoney shared a sad expression with him as they both stared at the food on the table. Emmett grabbed two turkey sandwiches, and Devoney took a roast beef with dijon mustard one.

The mood within the room was that of sombre; at least in regards with the first years. When Headmistress McGonagall stood, the fifty-odd pairs of first year eyes all stared up at her with a foreboding sense of dread. If they were not going to be going flying, it could only mean that classes were going to be reinstated.

"I would like everyone's attention please." McGonagall's eyes flickered across the room from behind her glasses. "As you can all see, due to the weather, we will not be having the flying scrimmage that was planned for today." Groans filled the hall. McGonagall silenced them with a raise of her hand. Devoney could never get past the mastery the Headmistress had in controlling the Great Hall's tone. "Normally we would send you all back to class…" A hushed silence filled the room; as if every first year student had taken a sharp intake of breath at the same time and refused to release it. "However, I am also very aware that no new learning would be capable of taking place on a day like this." Devoney swore she almost saw a smile peak through the stern face of the Headmistress. "Taking this into the decision, we have decided to have the afternoon be free study for all first years." She held up her hand once more before any rambunctious activities could commence. "I'm not finished yet." Lowering her arm, she had the whole room's attention. "After discussing it with your professors, we've also decided to have study hall for all fifth and seventh year students." She stared down the room. "This time will be strictly used for studying for your O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. Any students found creating mischief will be given a detention."

With a nod of her head concluding her announcement, McGonagall sat back down beckoning on the din of the overjoyed first, fifth, and seventh year students. It also brought on the argumentative and challenging remarks made by the second, third, fourth, and sixth year students. This time the Headmistress didn't even need to raise her hand to summon order. The steely look she cast out worked as well as any charm.

Much to Devoney's delight her archnemesis, a tall brunette Ravenclaw girl who went by the name of Cassity Jones who just wouldn't leave Emmett and her alone, was captured by her friends and were already making plans for their afternoon off. All it took was a shared grin between Emmett and herself before they politely excused themselves and left as quickly as they could muster without looking to suspicious. As they raced out of the grand doors that separated the hall from the passage ways, Devoney wished that she could have heard the reason behind why Teddy wanted to study for his N.E.W.T.s with Alec (who was only studying for his O.W.L.s) instead of with Victorie who was also taking her final levels. Alec had been surprising quite the whole debate. The notion of having free reign over some part of the school held a greater appeal.

It didn't take them long to decide what to do…they just decided to do nothing. They simply found themselves walking aimlessly down one of the isolated halls and were charming pebbles to fly at each other with the spell they had just learned that morning in Charms.

After manipulating the hover charm to create a floating circle of pebbles around Emmett's head, Devoney finally took a moment to look around at her surroundings and see where they had gotten to. The hall that they were in was huge, and completely empty, save the odd ghost that passed through the walls. It seemed to stretch on forever; at least for as far as Devoney could see (which made her wonder if she needed a stronger prescription in her glasses). Lining each side on the walls were hung large portraits of what Devoney could only assume to be famous witches and wizards. Underneath each portrait was a small etched copper plate stating the wizard or witch's name, their title, and was followed by their date of birth and death.

She had just been about to turn her attention back to Emmett, who was rambling on about what he was learning about electricity in his muggle studies class (Devoney almost wished that she hadn't needed to get the classed waivered. It seemed almost humorous in a way). She would have, and they would have continued on their way as if nothing happened. That is, had it not been for the portrait that caught the corner of Devoney's eye.

It was the grandest portrait in the whole hall. Devoney felt her breath catch as she stared at it. The unruly black as pitch hair that she knew all too well only partially hid the pair of emerald eyes that made Devoney feel as if she was staring into a mirror. His face was kind and young, he could have been no older than twenty-five at the oldest, but Devoney reckoned that he was much younger. She continued to stare at the wizard, too scared to break their connected eyes, Devoney didn't dare look down at the nameplate. Emmett, finally noticing that she was no longer by his side, doubled back and came to stand beside her. The small pebbles were still floating around his head.

Devoney wasn't sure how long they stood there in silence before she finally mustered up the strength to speak. "Emmett?" She spoke in a hushed tone. She didn't know why, but it felt as if you had to be respectfully quiet, as if you were next to someone's deathbed.

"Yeah Dev?" Emmett whispered back, just as quietly. Whether he felt the same or just did it because Devoney was, she'd never know, but she was grateful for it.

"Who is that?"

"That's Harry Potter." He answered her. Taking his eyes off of the memorial picture, he stared at Devoney with a look of contemplation. "You've never even seen a picture of him?" Emmett asked.

Devoney shook her head and swallowed with a bit of difficulty. "Is…is that a lighting bold on his forehead?"

Emmett nodded. "Yeah, right here." He moved his bangs away and motioned to a spot in the center of his forehead. Taking his hand away, he fixed his bangs back into place. "You know…it's a bit weird talking to you about these things. Everyone I've ever known has grown up knowing every little detail about the 'Great Harry Potter' and telling stories of him to others. Yet here you are…and you didn't even know what he looked like." Emmett put his hands into his pockets and stared at the portrait. "Did you know that he and my Mum used to be lovers?"

This was just the comment Devoney needed to break away her shock. She jerked her head away from the portrait and stared at Emmett with her jaw on the floor. "You're fibbing!" She declared, to which Emmett only grinned. "Truly?" Devoney pressed again. She just couldn't believe that the red-haired woman she had met briefly and had somehow managed to offend just weeks before had been in a love relationship with the man painted on the canvas before her.

"It's true! I swear!" Emmett answered adamantly. "He and my uncle made up two parts of the golden trio."

Devoney stared at her friend with new wonder. "Who was the other part?"

"Sorry?" Emmett asked, not really understanding the question.

"Who was the third part of the golden trio?" She clarified for him. "If your uncle Ron was one part, and Harry Potter was the second…who was the third?"

Emmett opened his mouth, and then shut it again and looked up at the ceiling in thought. "You know…I don't actually know." He confessed. "I've only ever heard of the two parts." Emmett shrugged his shoulders and gave Devoney a wide smile. "I guess we'll just have to look it up, huh?"

He needn't try to get Devoney off the topic, her attention was already back at the pair of oh-so-familiar eyes staring down at her. "What if…" She started, and then stumbled a bit, searching for the right words. She could feel Emmett move a little closer. Devoney took a deep breath and continued on. "What if Professor Adair wasn't completely wrong about me?" She asked, her voice no louder than a hushed whisper. She started to fidget with the band of her watch.

"Devoney!" Emmett shook his head exasperatedly. "You don't need to fall into his trap! Just because there's a little," He looked back up at the portrait. "Okay," He relented. "a lot of resemblance, it does _not_ mean that you are Harry Potter's daughter. I'm sure you're not the only green-eyed, black-haired witch or wizard who has ever walked through these halls."

Devoney drew her eyes away from Harry and set them on Emmett's face. Her eyebrows were knit together in worry. "I have something I need to show you."

A look of worry took over Emmett's face. Undoing the snaps on the watch band, Devoney carefully removed the two inches of white leather that she wore over her left wrist. Slowly she turned her arm so that the underside of her wrist was facing up. The lightning bolt birthmark was clearly visible against her pale skin.

She trembled a bit and nervously bit her lip. "Emmett…" He stared wide-eyed at her wrist. "Who exactly am I?"

They stood there in silence for some time. With an unspoken permission, Emmett reached over and ran a finger over her birthmark; his fingers were cool to the touch. "How long have you had this?" He finally managed to ask after a few more moments of examining the odd shape.

"Since I was born." Devoney answered, to which Emmett nodded in acknowledgement. "I got teased because of it back in my primary school so I just got in the habit of not showing it to anyone." She gave off her best weak laugh. "I suppose that's a good thing in this case, isn't it?"

Emmett released her hand. "Now, I'm not saying that this scar-"

"Birthmark." Devoney corrected him.

"Right, birthmark." Emmett echoed before continuing on. "I'm not saying that it proves one way or another who your parents are…but I think you should keep wearing your watch over it."

Devoney nodded. "Yeah, I think so too. We don't want any strange rumours starting, do we?" They shared another weak smile, but it was clear that neither one of them had expected to make this discovery that afternoon. Devoney put the watch back on and dropped her arms back down. She griped the edges of her cloak in her fists. "Do you think I'm strange?" She whispered, refusing to meet Emmett's eyes. She didn't think she could handle to see Emmett pull away from her. If she had been watching however, she would have seen that that wasn't to be the case.

"I think you're my best friend." Emmett answered definitively. "Funny birthmark or uncannily similar eyes to Harry Potter isn't going to change that. Come on…" He held a hand out for her to take. "We don't want to waste our coveted free afternoon staring at a bunch of dead people, do we?"

For the first time since they had stumbled upon the taunting picture, Devoney grinned. She grabbed his hand, and they ran. Ran as fast and as far as they could away from the Hall of the Past. They kept running until they could think of nothing else and could simply run no more. They leaned up against the nearest wall in order to catch their breaths.

There were so many questions Devoney didn't know how to answer. Why did she have the same mark and physical characteristics as the Great Harry Potter? What was her attachment to someone she had only first heard of a few months before? Why was Adair so adamant on calling her 'Potter'? Why did she keep getting sad, fleeting stares from Professor Longbottom? And just what were those foreboding letters Alec had gotten that morning?

Of all the things she didn't know, there was one thing that Devoney was certain about…She could not find a better friend than Emmett.

OoOo

Charlie (as Devoney was informed at supper that night once the news had circulated throughout the Weasley Clan), besides being the 'cool' uncle, was also the family mystery. He was a bit of a loner growing up, preferring the company of animals to that of humans. Even after he had graduated Hogwarts he had taken a job with the D.A.O.F and spent his life researching and studying dragons. At first Devoney had thought that the acronym had stood for _D_ragons _A_re _O_ur _F_riends. She was very disappointed to find out it actually stood for _D_ragon _A_cquisition and _O_bservation _F_ield; nowhere near as interesting in her opinion.

If someone could have been legally married to their work, Charlie would have had that marriage licence signed and sealed. He had been in a devote relationship to his work for fifteen years. Charlie had never, at least to his family's knowledge, ever shown even the slightest of interest in marriage or women. Emmett had informed her that his father had been convinced that their Uncle Charlie batted for the other team. Inside jokes had circulated throughout the families for years over Charlie's...predilection. That was, until the 'event' that happened four years ago.

Molly (their Grandmother, Alec informed her) had been in the small garden besides her house when it happened. She had been trying to decide if she wanted turnips or potatoes to go with the meal that night when she saw her second oldest son come walking down the way. Pleasantly surprised, Molly had brushed the dirt off her hands and went to greet him. That was when she first noticed the blanket he was carrying; and just how ragged her son looked. His thick rustic hair was flying off in directions that normally required several spells to achieve and he had such dark circles under his eyes that it nearly hid some of his freckles...nearly.

"Mom...I need some help." Charlie pleaded as he drew closer; the exhaustion laced through his voice was just as noticeable as his stand-point hair. It was at that exact moment the blanket held in his arms decided that it wanted to cry.

Racing the last few steps to where her son stood, Molly slowly drew back the edge of the blanket. There in the bundles of yellow and grey material was resting a weepy infant, no more than a few weeks old. Molly's heart went out to the little fellow who momentarily stopped crying in order to examine who it was that had introduced sunlight into his little fort. Molly held out a finger and ran it across the tiny hands of the baby. He responded by gripping her finger within his fist.

Even without him saying so, Molly could tell without a doubt that the child was Charlie's son. The baby was a carbon copy of Charlie when he had just been born. From the dusting of freckles already showing on his body from under his jumper to the warm hazel eyes that would barely open...even the sparse fringe of hair on the top of his head was the same shade of red that Charlie had possessed as a child.

"Well, I can see that!" Molly addressed her son in an almost chiding manner. Moving her arms, she relieved her son of his bundle. "When was the last time you've fed this little fella?"

"Thaenen." Charlie answered. Molly simply stared at her son. "His name is Thaenen."

His mother nodded comfortingly. "So it is." She replied. "Common dear, there's some soup on the stove. I don't think your son is the only one who could use a meal."

Even after Molly had forced some food into her lanky son and ordered him to take a nap, Charlie refused to release any of the details of Thaenen's origin. Even with the never ceasing inquiries of his mother, no information was gained. No names, no woman, no history, no details. It very well could have been that Charlie had woken up one morning and decided _'Hey, I'm going to have a baby today!'_ and that was that.

Despite Molly's best efforts to move in with Charlie to help him get used to having a child, he refused point blank. He stayed at the Burroughs only as long as it took him to get the basics of childcare down pat. Once he had bed time, feeding, changing, and playing under control, Charlie packed the bag of old baby clothing that Molly had kept and disappeared back to his own home.

Charlie took to being a father immediately. From that day forward he gave up the life of dragons to be a full time 'Dad' to his son. Thaenen became his number one priority. There probably hasn't been a baby in history that was so doted on. Trevet laughed as he told them that Charlie had actually shed a tear when he could no longer tote Thaenen around in the little baby harness he wore strapped to his front.

As for why Charlie was going to be visiting them tomorrow, speculation was bounced around, but no serious possibilities were agreed upon. The best that they could come up with was that Charlie wanted to take Thaenen around to the schools to see which one he would want to go to in another six years.

By the end of the day there was no better explanations floating around. They'd all have to wait for the next afternoon to find out.

_The next day:_

The first time Devoney saw Thaenen she had almost squealed in glee. The baby of the Weasley Clan looked like a doll. The little four year old boy toted shyly behind his father as they entered the Gryffindor common room early that afternoon, gripping the edge of Charlie's cloak. He had thick curly ginger coloured locks and the biggest eyes Devoney had ever seen on a little boy. His entire face was so covered in freckles that it was hard to say if he was pale skinned with freckles, or one large freckle with the occasional pale dot. Like his father, he was a quiet sort of child, but one look at his eyes and you could tell that he picked up everything that said around him.

Charlie, Devoney decided as he delivered the mass hugs to all his nieces and nephews, looked much younger that he actually was. He was a tall man, just like Devoney's father, but he was fit to the point that you could see that his lean frame was all muscles. Devoney's father was simply scrawny. The few lines on his face were attributed to the ever constant smile that graced his face.

After their hugs and greetings were given, the majority of Weasley's rushed to tease and play with little Thaenen. Emmett came to grab Devoney so that he could introduce her, and Alec stayed behind to talk with his uncle.

"Uncle Charlie," Emmett led Devoney forward by the hand. "This is my best friend Dev."

Charlie stared down at her, his smile, while not quite leaving his face, definitely took a different shade to it. "So you're the one..." Devoney brows knit together. Before she had a chance to ask just what she was the 'one' of, Charlie extended his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Devoney shook his hand, to which he started to smile normally again. It was warm and held the toughness of someone who worked for a living. Once Thaenen had started taking lessons Charlie had started to work part time with his second love, dragons.

"So, what are you doing here Uncle Charlie?" Emmett questioned his uncle good naturally as he jumped up onto the arm rest of one of the chairs.

Charlie smiled down at the young boy. "I came here to find out if Alec was still interested in a part time job at Lillywaters this summer." He gave Alec a wink. "That is, if he thinks he could handle a classroom of rambunctious three to six year old terrors."

Devoney had never seen Alec's face light up so much. "Are you serious?" He asked in a blur. "You promise you are not fibbing, right?"

"Not at all!" Charlie laughed. "I was talking to one of Thaenen's teachers and apparently they're still looking for a young teacher's aide for the summer daycare."

Before Alec simply popped out of joy, Devoney felt as if she required some context. "What's Lillywaters?" She asked in all seriousness.

"Lillywaters is a primary school where children from magical families are sent." Alec explained. "Some say that the name Lillywater was named as sort of an inside joke between a professor here at Hogwarts and one of the teachers at the primary. Something to do with frogs I believe...Lillywaters, Hogwarts...Lillywarts, Hogwaters...Lillyhogs, Waterwarts..." Alec dismissed the train of thought with a flick of his hand. "I do not actually know."

"It's where we all went before coming to Hogwarts." Emmett added before turning to his brother. "I didn't know you wanted to be a teacher."

Alec smiled nervously at the ground. "Few people do." He confessed, pulling on a few strands of his silk like hair.

"Well, I think you would make a grand teacher!" Devoney exclaimed. "You look like you would be able to work well with children."

Alec met her grin with a grateful smile. "Thank you."

"Why don't you two go over and play with Thaenen?" Charlie directed, wrapping an arm around Alec's shoulders. "I have a few more things I need to discuss with your brother."

Smiles and nods around, Emmett and Devoney raced off to play with the adorable young child. As they were walking away, Devoney heard a snippet of the conversation between Charlie and Alec; after all, the common room wasn't that large.

"They've been sending you the letters, haven't they?" Charlie whispered.

Somewhere between where they were out of earshot of Alec and Charlie, and before they reached the gaggle of cousins, Devoney turned to Emmett. "Do you know what he meant when your uncle said 'So you're the one.'?"

With a dismissive shrug of his shoulders, Emmett looked over his shoulders to see Charlie and Alec talking very seriously over something very important. "I don't know. He probably just heard of you through my Dad. Don't worry!" He gave Devoney a small push, knocking her over a step. "I doubt that it was anything important." Grinning at her friend, Devoney raced back over the lost step and checked her side against Emmett, sending him flying into Addie. Laughter took the place of any unnecessary thoughts.

Soon the day's events too fled from her mind and worry as these things tend to happen for children. It wouldn't be for another few weeks that Devoney would see just how wrong Emmett had been.

* * *

><p>Another chapter done! I hope to have another chapter up before Christmas. Hope you enjoy. Leave your thoughts in the comments :)<p> 


	6. Year 1, Chapter 6

Hello, I'm back again. Sorry about the lie on hoping to get you all another chapter in before Christmas. _That_ certainly did not happen. January has also proven to be a creative lull for me and I do aim to correct that in this new year! I hope to get year 1 and possibly year 2 up this year, so here's hoping for lots and lots of creativity coming my way! ^^

Any hoo, here's the next chapter and I hope you enjoy! Please leave your thoughts in the comments! Have a great day!

* * *

><p>Devoney's brief revive from teasing marked a turnaround, however this turn of effects was sadly not for the better.<p>

Things were going great…almost too good to be true in fact. Devoney was finally making friends, though most of these were with Emmett's family. Her grades were really good, and she was picking up on magic rather quickly for someone who had doubted its existence a mere few months before. The teachers seemed to like her, even with the odd behaviour of Professor Adair, and today was finally time for their final flying scrimmage to take place. All of the first year students were positively abuzz. The weather was crisp and clear with not a cloud in the sky, and Headmistress McGonagall had confirmed that it would take place. Things were perfect.

I suppose that's why it had to happen.

The first time it happened, Devoney hadn't really spent too much time worrying about it. It had been at breakfast. Alec had just received a letter from his mum. Devoney only really remembered it because he looked quite sad after reading it. When she asked Emmett about it on the way to class, he only shrugged his shoulders and said he hadn't a clue. So she let the incident slip from her memory as the day progressed and thought nothing more about it until the confrontation incident the next week.

OoO

Emmett had to half carry her back to the castle after that afternoon's final flying scrimmage. Devoney decided she still had mixed feelings about this flying-thing. Not that she couldn't control herself one the broom, she had done quite good on that level. The flying professor had even commented on her skill while they had still been taking lessons. Said good things would come from her.

She liked the principle, she liked the dynamics, and she loved the feel of it…what she didn't like however was the weather element. The minute the broom lifted off the ground today and the wind knocked her promptly over, Devoney began to doubt she had the stomach for this. It was sickeningly exhilarating.

Sickening being the key word.

One can only do so many unintentional barrel rolls before your stomach gives out. Devoney clenched her stomach and forced her wobbly legs to move as Emmett dragged her forward, she decided she'd give it one more try…someday…

It wasn't until they were seated in the dining hall when Emmett finally allowed himself to laugh at Devoney's sorry state. She cast him an evil glare as she rested her head on the table, uncertain if she would be able to eat supper today.

As Emmett laughed, she noticed from the corner of her glaring eye, that as people started to fill in for supper, they were giving her strange looks; nervous ones from the Hufflepuffs and an almost amused look from the Slytherins tables.

Devoney was on her way to convincing herself that this was all in her head. These people had no reason to look at her funny. That was until Emmett noticed it as well. In an instant he stopped laughing and switched to his best friend mode. He moved closer, and in an almost protective manner, rested a hand on her back, shooting glares at the surrounding tables as he leaned down.

"What's up with these lots? You'd think they've never seen a sick person before."

Devoney doubted that this had to do with her meagre attempt at flying.

Alec took his customary spot within the Weasley clan across from Emmett and Devoney. Devoney gave him a weak smile, which he returned with an equally weak grin. Maybe he had gotten some really bad news in that letter this morning.

"What's the matter with you today?" Emmett shot at his brother, tension still high from all the attention Devoney was getting. If anything, Emmett was protective, and Devoney appreciated it.

Alec gave him an obviously fake smile as he put on a false air that was seen through by everyone. "What are you talking about then? Everything is great! I just happen to be a wee bit tired tonight then." If to push his act to the extreme, he gave a great stretch and covered his mouth from his false yawn.

All of a sudden Ted stormed up from behind Alec and shoved him hard against the table. Devoney quickly sat up to avoid the liquid spilling from the goblets that had been knocked over. The entire table was silent.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" His harsh tone sharply contrasted with his bright pink hair covered with electric yellow hearts all over it. Teddy swore he had lost a bet, but the hearts _did_ take away from the overall effect of his anger. When Alec silently looked up at him with a dead gaze Ted reached down and grabbed a hold of him by the front his jumper and forced him up. Devoney suddenly feared that this was going to turn to blows.

"Get up." He commanded angrily as Alec crashed a bit against the table. A few more goblets tumbled over and some soup splashed out of the turin. The Gryffindor table was silent as Ted pushed Alec out of the hall, the great doors slamming behind them.

Devoney sat there, mouth agape. She had never seen anyone within the clan get mad at each other. Sure, they had their arguments, but nothing along the lines of ferocity that she saw in Ted's eyes. She turned to Emmett.

"Just what was that all about?" She asked under her breath, afraid to break through the heavy fog residing over the table.

Emmett, just as lost as she was, could only shake his head slowly as stared out at the now closed doors.

Silence hovered over the Gryffindor table as everyone picked through the remainder of their meals while the rest of the hall talked only in hushed whispers. Though she had only eaten a small portion of her chicken potpie, Devoney excused herself from the table. Emmett rose with her and together they swiftly left the dining hall.

After assuring Emmett that she could make it back to the common room by herself, he rushed off to find where his brother and Teddy had disappeared to. Devoney walked down the halls towards the staircase that lead to the library. In times like this, she needed a difference kind of silence.

She had asked Emmett later that evening if he had found his brother. Emmett's face flushed and he shuffled his feet awkwardly, mumbling that he couldn't find them. Devoney had a feeling that there was more to the story than that, but decided not to press him for details.

It was the first time that day that Devoney though back to the mysterious letter that Alec had received that morning. Charlie's surprise visit, the letters Alec refused to share, and now Ted's outburst…What was the connection between them all?

OoO

After that, Alec started to receive weekly letters. Devoney once stole a peek at who was writing to him. One would come from his mum and another would come from his Uncle Ron. After each one Alec would look so sad, but he rebounded quickly, always keeping his ever-happy façade.

Then the weekly letters became daily letters. And Alec stopped getting sad. Instead he started to become angry. Angier after each letter he received to the point where he stopped opening, let alone reading, the letters all together. The last ones he even refused to accept. You can imagine the poor owl's confusion. He also became prone to snapping at people. Emmett was genuinely worried for his older brother.

"I just don't what's with him." Emmett confessed to her one day on the walk to the potions dungeon. "Mum won't tell me, and lately no one can seem to talk to Alec without having him blow up at them."

Devoney wasn't sure what to say. She wrapped an arm around Emmett as a comforting gesture as they walked to class. She hadn't had a sibling long enough to know what to do in this situation.

"Awww, if it isn't the love birds. How cute." Came a sneering voice from behind.

"Oh shove off Cassity." Devoney snapped. _Great, this is all I need now! _Ran through Devoney's mind.

For some reason the Ravenclaw girl had never liked her. She took every chance to belittle Devoney, she seemed to relish in the act. At first Devoney had thought they might become friends. Cassity had once been good friends with Emmett. But the minute they met, Cassity had taken a great distain to Devoney.

Devoney cast a dirty look at her as Cassity and Co, which Devoney liked to call the posy of stuck-up Ravenclaws who followed Cassity everywhere, walked past. As much as Devoney didn't like them, she was always careful to hold her tongue to some degree. Cassity was already 5 feet tall, had strong muscles, and was used to fighting around with her three older brothers. Devoney, on the other hand, stood at 4 foot 4, only weighed 65 pounds, and had arms relatively the size of toothpicks. It didn't take a genius to tell who would win that fight.

Devoney and Emmett took their seat near the front of the class. And while although Devoney enjoyed potions class, she found it to be quite similar to baking, only with stranger ingredients, today she just couldn't focus on class. Her mind kept wandering off to those letters and to the anguish they were causing Alec…and the people around him.

"Callaghan!" Snapped Professor Casterista. "Mind your cauldron. We don't need that slop you've created today spewing all over the place!"

Embarrassed, Devoney turned her attention to her near burning potion. Heart not quite into it, she tried her best to focus though the rest of class and get it done. She sighed and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. _ Maybe Tavi knows how to cut them…_ She pulled up the baggy sleeve on her cloak to check the time. _One more hour….one more hour…._

OoO

As per the recent supper tradition, Emmett tried to get his brother to tell him what was wrong.

"Alec, this isn't healthy for you. You can't just keep this all bottled up inside. You'll go bloody mad!"

Now, everyone knew that Emmett had Alec's best interests in his heart, but Alec would have none of that tonight.

"You know what Emmett?" Alec turned on him angrily, slamming his palms against the table. "Sod the fuck off! It is none of your bloody business."

"But Alec-" Emmett stammered, eyes wide.

Alec cut him off with an exasperated exhale and some cutting words. "Bleeding hell, don't you ever shut up? I wish you were in a different house. That way I wouldn't have to deal with your whining all the time." He spat out as he stood up and angrily stomped out of the hall.

Emmett's bottom lip quivered slightly. That was the first time Alec had ever said anything so harsh to his brother...or anyone else for that matter. Alec wasn't one to lose his temper. And everyone knew that it was every Weasley's goal to get into Gryffindor.

In a flash, Emmett had several of the cousins closer to his age rush over to embrace him. The older ones could only stare in amazement, each one wondering what had brought out the demon they had just saw in Alec. Out of everyone in their family, Alec had the best self-control and the kindest nature. He had never said anything hurtful. And aside from the fight with Ted a few weeks ago, where he had nonchalantly taken whatever lashing Ted gave, this was the only time Alec had ever said something not in a joking manner.

The entire hall was silent. Professor McGonagall stood up and swiftly left the hall. When a student was causing such distress amongst her school, something had to be done.

After supper, which had been finished in silence, Alec was nowhere to be found…which may have been for the best. Victorie had taken a station in the Gryffindor common room, hexes ready and waiting, and both Ted and Trevet were ready to pound the answers out of Alec the minute they saw him.

When Alec didn't return that night, everyone's tempers simmered and soon the passionate interest in what Alec was hiding disappeared. They all went to bed that night uneasy. Minds racing, thoughts full of questions requiring closure…questions that would be answered the following morning with the coming of the mail.

OoOo

Devony's head snapped up when Alec sat down silently in front of her; as he did every morning. The rest of the Weaselys paid him little attention. Either their feelings were too hurt by his hiding the night before to acknowledge his presence… or they were waiting for breakfast to be over so they could take him out back behind the quidditch pitch and demand some answers out of the line of sight of the professors. Emmett's face lit up when his big brother gave him an apologetic smile. Devoney felt her own lips curl up against her will. She couldn't help but feel that everything was going to be alright between them. Emmett opened his mouth to say something, but his eyes grew distracted. Devoney lifted her gaze up towards the ceiling to follow what it was that he was looking so intently at. She noticed his face blanch as he saw the red letter attached to the Malfoy family owl. Alec didn't even say a word when the owl circled down towards him. All it took was one look at the owl and its foreboding package for Alec to grab the letter before the owl had even landed and make a mad dash for the relatively disserted hall past the great doors.

He almost made it too.

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU?"

Boomed the voice of an angry redhead, that Devoney recognized at once as Emmett's and Alec's mother.

"I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM HER! BUT NO, IT HAD TO COME TO THIS! NOW I HAVE TO SCREAM ABOUT THAT BASTERED POTTER CHILD TO THE WOLRD."

Devoney's blood ran cold. This was all about her? She had been the cause of all of this?

"ASK HER! I DARE YOU, ASK HER WHO HER REAL PARENTS ARE."

In an instant, nearly all the eyes in the hall, even the ones that had been fully focused on Alec, turned and fixed their stares on Devoney.

"THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING…" Continued the letter. "IF I EVEN HEAR OF YOU OR EMMETT HANGING AROUND HER SORT, THERE _WILL_ BE TROUBLE!" And with that the letter dissolved into a furl of ashes. If it hadn't been for the overwhelming silence that filled the hall, one could have convinced themselves that they had just imagined the entire thing.

Alec stood there looking defeated, shoulders slumped, and for the first time since Devoney had met him, he looked sad. She almost felt like crying for him, had not the entire hall been focused on her.

Trevet swivelled in his seat so he was facing Devoney, and asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "Who _are_ your parent's Dev?" Devoney felt her entire face go red with shame.

She looked down at the table to hide her embarrassment. "I can't tell you my birth parents. I was adopted at birth." She whispered, just loud enough for those around her to have heard, and yet it seemed as if the entire hall caught every word. "But it shouldn't matter. I was raised by Paul and Emily Callaghan. They are my mum and dad, it shouldn't matter who birthed me."

"What?" A voice rang down from the head table. Every head turned to the sound, and all eyes became focused on Professor Adair. "Ms. Potter doesn't even know where she received her birthright from? How sad…" He drawled, lips smirking as he looked at her over his long interlocking fingers.

"Adair!" Professor McGonagall snapped. Though she was on the other side of the hall, her voice projected clear. "That is quite enough." The look she cast on the young professor made Devoney hope that she was never on the other end of her scorn. "Outside, now!" She commanded, her eyes were flaming, her figure ridged.

Professor Adair rose slowly, that smirk never leaving his lips. The hall was completely silent. The sound of Professor McGonagall and Professor Adair's footsteps rang through and echoed against the stone walls.

Adair followed the Headmistress to the main doors. Looking back over his shoulder he smiled at Devoney as the doors closed. And Devoney's blood ran cold.

* * *

><p>Apologies on the short chapter. It was that or leave my original file of over 8,000 words as is. This way is much more manageable ^^ Expect the second part to come later this week, and this time it is not a lie! The file is written and ready to go :)<p>

Ta


	7. Year 1, Chapter 7

Whoops! Came out to be a week delay instead of the same week. I blame improper time management...and far too much time on pinterest and imgur ^^ Here is your story chapter! Hope you enjoy~

* * *

><p>After that morning, things started to get very weird, very quickly. Each child of the Weasley clan received a letter the following morning, and after that their feelings drastically changed. Tavi wouldn't meet her eyes, and Trevet started to get up and leave the table or common room whenever she came in. Addie still talked to her, but Faen and Vi never seemed to hear her when she spoke. Regardless of what the letter from his mum and said, Emmett remained at her side. He protected her from having to face all the whispering and snickering alone. Alec appeared to have gone into hiding. He was never seen at meals anymore, and his main effects seemed to have gone missing from his room. Devoney questioned Emmett if maybe Alec had been made to go home, but to the best of his knowledge, Alec was still somewhere kicking about the castle.<p>

"Rumours only last seventy five days…Rumours only last seventy five days..." Devoney muttered under her breath as she entered the Great Hall for breakfast, preparing herself for yet another day of mean spirited jibes. Emmett took his seat next to her.

"What does that mean?" He asked as he reached for the porridge.

"It was something my mum used to tell me when I was getting bullied at my old school." Devoney explained as she spooned some eggs onto her plate. Emmett grabbed a bowl of porridge and then proceeded to spoon unhealthy amounts of brown sugar over it. "It means after seventy five days people will get bored and lose interest."

Emmett nodded and reached down and pulled his calendar from his bag and started to count out the days. "So, I guess that means we only have seventy one days left then, don't we?" He smiled brightly at her as he made a mark on his calendar. "That doesn't seem like too long. You should even be able to come to my house over the break by then!"

Devoney gave him a feeble smile. She was used to being bullied and being alone. Emmett on the other hand, had never been in a rift before, let alone one with family. She wasn't sure if Emmett could handle being completely ostracised. She prayed he could though; she could really use him sticking around.

Devoney looked up as the owls started to fly about and deliver their packages. She never would have imagined this escalating as high as it was. She still wasn't even sure what she had done to deserve Mrs. Malfoy's wrath. It wouldn't be until later that night that Devoney would experience to just how far Ginny's malicious whispering could reach.

Leaving the Dining Hall, Devoney and Emmett headed towards their first class of the morning, Transfiguration. Since the incident of the howler a few days ago, Devoney had been a little bit afraid to return to the classroom…and to the man who seemed to know more about who she was then Devoney in fact knew herself. The last two classes Emmett had acted as scout and had walked into the classroom and gave a signal if Adair was there or not. The first lesson the same morning as the howler had been taught by the Headmistress. Devoney was sure not to skip that day. But the by the next day Adair had returned. Devoney had gone and studied in the library for the hour and a half. Today they would have no such luck. Adair was waiting for them at the entrance way to the lecture hall.

"Why, Miss Potter! I had thought for certain you were sick! After you missed my last class I almost went to the Infirmary to look for you. Thank heavens you're alright." The sarcasm was hardly masked by the sincere expression on his face. "Quickly now," He addressed the pair. "You wouldn't want to be tardy, now would you?" Adair reached down and grabbed Devoney by the wrist, as if afraid she would make a dash for it when he turned his back, and started to pull her into the classroom. Emmett followed behind helplessly. He shared Devoney's shocked expression.

Devoney started to fidget as he fingers wrapped around her watch band. She probably shouldn't have done that, for it drew Adair's attention to the ever so visible mark hidden beneath the band. Looking back on the incident, Devoney was almost certain that he knew she had it before he brought it to the attention of the whole class. He had to have.

"Why Miss Potter, what is wrong with your wrist? Have you hurt yourself?"

Devoney tried to pull her arm away, but Adair's grip held tight as he removed her watch and turned her wrist so that it was observable for the whole classroom.

"Well…" The theatrics of his voice made Devoney's spine crawl. "What an unusual scar you have Miss Potter. It looks so familiar to me….Who else has a scar just like this?" He tapped one of his long fingers against his temple as if in thought. It was at this point the name 'Harry Potter' was spreading through the students in a hushed whisper. Devoney's face turned an impressive shade of crimson. "Ah yes!" Adair exclaimed suddenly to the class before locking eyes with Devoney so that she would know the whole act of being puzzled had been nothing more than a ruse. "Har-"

It was at that point a few of the chalkboard brushes decided that they were bored of being left out of the conversation. Three of the dusty brushes collided with different parts of Adair's body while two more danced along the top of the students threatening to strike at any moment. Adair was now covered from head to toe in white dust from the attack; one to the back, another to the shoulder, and lastly one upside the back of his head. The shock of the event had loosened his grip momentarily. That moment was all Devoney needed. Taking the opportunity presented in front of her in the form of a smoke screen of chalk dust and the stunned classroom, Devoney nodded her thanks to Emmett before high tailing it out of there as fast as her size 34 feet could take her.

She continued to run as fast as she could until she was positive that she wasn't being chased. Devoney than slowed her pace to more of a speed walk, because really, the only thing she needed now was to be written up for running in the halls. Looking over her shoulder again to check for followers, Devoney took a left turn and chose the spiral staircase on the right of the two in front of her.

The one on the left lead to the main astronomy tower and was made of stone. The one of the right had a 'Do not cross' sign on it and its wrought iron steps appeared to end abruptly into thin air, giving the impression that it had yet to be finished. Devoney's eyes had nearly popped out of her head the first time when she saw Emmett dash up the tight spiral and jump off of the edge. After she forced herself to open her eyes again, she scanned the floor for her friend's mangled corpse. When she didn't see it, she started to scan the ceiling as well. Then she saw Emmett's head sticking out of the empty space above the stairs. "Hurry up!" He commanded in a hushed tone as if to not attract any unwanted attention. Devoney would have figured seeing a floating head would have done that anyway, but then again, she hadn't been in the magical world for that long. Sneaking under the 'Do not cross' sign Devoney tiptoed to the top and tentatively placed her foot over the edge. She was surprized to find the invisible surface to be utterly solid. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Devoney gave a little hop off of the platform. She then kept her eyes shut for a few moments, simply to make sure she wasn't falling. Deeming herself unmoving, she opened her eyes and studied the space in front of her.

Apparently the stairs had always had the 'Do not cross' sign, even from as far back as Emmett's father had been at Hogwarts. "Dad used to use it for late night tutoring sessions." Emmett had explained. "Except when he tells the story, he always does this:" Emmett made a series of finger air quotes. "I'm not entirely sure why, but he said that this place is quite nearly always empty. We could probably use it for studying!"

Devoney climbed the stairs slowly (she still didn't fully trust the creaky metal) and hopped from the metal to the hidden tiled room. Emmett would know to find her there after Transfiguration was finished. Taking a seat on the lone armchair, Devoney wrapped her legs around herself and opened up the textbook. At least the morning wouldn't be a complete waste.

OoO

The incident from the morning passed with remarkably less impact than Devoney had anticipated. The first year students from the four houses all exchanged a look with each other when Devoney walked into the Dining Hall, but oddly they continued on with their conversations. She wasn't sure if it was because they were scared of flying chalk brushes spontaneously attacking or simply felt bad for her. Either way, she appreciated the statement.

The night was looking to start out alright. As in, it was fine right to the point that supper ended. The minute the food had been finished, everyone Devoney had once called 'friends' stood up and left her sitting there next to Emmett. Emmett and she had just been making plans for their homework party later that night. Emmett's father had sent them a bottle of pumpkin juice and some other witchy snacks that tasted like burnt caramel popcorn that Devoney couldn't get enough of came in with the post today. Emily had also sent her several bags of Haribo gummies from her business trip to Germany in Devoney's last care package. The night promised of an enormous sugar high and a very long (and dull) History of Magic essay.

Just as they were getting up to leave, a new owl swooped down to Devoney. It was unusual for owls to approach students outside of the normal post deliveries in the mornings. Emmett watched on with curiosity as Devoney untied the letter. At the same time three boys a few years over than them approached.

"Hey Malfoy," The tall blonde from Slytherin with the high cheekbones and a rather crooked nose addressed the younger boy with what Devoney couldn't help but describe as a condescending tone. "We need to have a talk with you."

Emmett arched eyebrow signified his confusion as well. "About what?" He asked.

"We need to talk to you alone." This time the speaker was wearing Ravenclaw colours. The boy had hair nearly as black as Devoney's, but his was curly. She was certain that he had been pointed out as a distant cousin somewhere along the way, but she wasn't positive on that.

Shrugging, Emmett clearly didn't feel the malice behind their words that Devoney did. Standing up to leave, Devoney caught his sleeve before Emmett followed the boys out of the hall. She wanted to express how their words send nervous shivers down her spine, but her words wouldn't come out.

"Don't worry!" Emmett dismissed her worried stare with a smile. "I'm sure it's just about guy stuff. I'll meet you in our corner of the common room in half an hour."

A small wave and he disappeared around the corner, leaving Devoney behind with an ominous feeling. Turning her attention back to the letter, Devoney opened it and started to read. The moment she read the first line however, the paper of the letter started to weigh like lead in her hands.

O-O

Emmett walked through the portrait hole and came into the common room, a black eye and split lip now graced his face. The minute Devoney saw him, she jumped up and rushed towards him from the corner where she had been sitting in doing her homework, Min followed close behind. There never seemed to be room for her at any of the couches or tables anymore.

"Oh my God! Emmett, are you ok?" She reached up to touch his black eye. He brushed her hand away angrily.

"I'm fine, leave it alone." Emmett snapped before turning and going straight up the stairs to the male dormitory. Leaving Devoney standing there, her arm outstretched and her mouth open.

Devoney wasn't sure what hurt more. That Emmett had gotten hurt, most likely on account of her, or that for the first time Emmett hadn't trusted her enough to tell her what was wrong. She just knew it was those three boys who had called him out after supper.

Leaving everything in the corner, Devoney stormed out of the common room. There were tears starting to prick the corners of her eyes, and at that precise moment, she didn't feel like having anyone who was in the common room seeing them. Once out in the hall Devoney broke into a run. Unsure of where she was going but also not particularly caring, Devoney just ran.

After a dizzying amount of left turns and an odd number of right ones, Devoney found herself good and lost. The hall was devoid of any distinguishing characteristics or features, with the exception of a large, nondescript copper urn residing in one of the corners on a low platform. It was something you couldn't even really see from down the hall due to the jutting out of the wall right before it.

Devoney declared to herself that it was as good of spot as any to hide out for a while. Pulling herself over the lip, Devoney was suddenly very glad that she was only four foot four. It made getting into tiny spaces, like this, quite easy. She had been expecting the darkness of the urn. What she hadn't been expecting however, was the sudden disappearance of the bottom of the urn the minute she had settled her weight.

A short slide into darkness later, Devoney found herself even more lost then she had just been. At least before, she had known that she was still somewhere inside the castle. Now she couldn't even pretend she knew where she was. Miserable, friendless, lost, and now her slight phobia of being in the dark appeared to be coming back.

Great, just bloody great. Devoney cursed as she clenched her eyes tight and pulled her knees up to her chest. At least no one will miss me. She thought miserably. Devoney was completely content with just sitting there, alone in the cold darkness, wallowing in her self-pity. Apparently the night had other plans for her however.

A bright light blinded her temporarily as it flared the darkness away and then settled into a steady glow. A canvas bag plopped down from the bottom of the urn, not completely unlike Devoney's own trip down. Confused, Devoney started to stand, only to be knocked over by someone with incredibly long legs as they lowered themselves down from the top.

Still… Devoney couldn't help but think as she crashed to the floor yet again. This is probably more graceful then my first fall.

If this had been one of those drama shows that her mum had liked, right now would be the scene where Devoney would be just be slowly opening her eyes to look into the eyes of the man who was doing his best to keep his weight off her, while dust softly swirled in the air from their impact. Instead, all Devoney got was a mouthful of Alec's hair as his ponytail fell in front of him, and in turn he got a knee to his gut from where he fell on her.

Slightly winded, Alec did his best to get off Devoney, while she pulled a few long red hairs from her mouth. Brief excitement passed, they both sat there, unsure as to what to say. Devoney brought her knees back up to her chest, and Alec sprawled out his long legs.

Devoney tried to say something. She really did…Opened her mouth and everything. She just happened to close it again without any words actually came out.

After a short time of awkward silence, Alec broke through the quiet. "What are you hiding from, then?"

Devoney scowled into her knees. "Everything." She peaked up a bit to sneak a look at him. He looked so tired. "And you?" She asked

"Everyone."

Devoney looked around, slightly uncomfortable. "I'd leave now if I knew how, but I'm not entirely sure where exactly it is that I am."

This made Alec chuckle. Watching him, Devoney couldn't help but think that it looked like he really needed it. She couldn't remember if she had seen him laugh at all after the first incident with Ted.

He did, quite possibly, have one of the best laughs Devoney had ever heard though. It started off as a soft chuckle that grew and grew until eventually Alec was laughing so hard he was gasping for breath.

"That's not necessary." He chuckled as his mirth finally died down. Devoney still couldn't figure out just what she had said that had been so funny to him. He wiped a few tears from his eyes. "You must be one of the few people I'm not avoiding now."

Devoney could help but frown at his friendly smile. "Maybe I should be. Then you wouldn't have to be in hiding." She turned away from Alec's inquiring eyes. "If I wasn't here, if I had never came, then none of this would have happened. Emmett wouldn't hate me, and your cousins would want to beat you up, and-"

"Now hold on a second then." Alec interrupted her quivering attempt at speaking. "Not only do you need not fret about me defending myself. I may not have Faen's craft ingenuity, Vi's spell library, or Ted's strength, but I am no less cunning or able. Why do you think they have not caught me yet?" He reached over and put a hand on her head. "And as for Emmett, I do not even think it is even humanly possible for him to hate you."

Devoney's eyes started to well up. "But you didn't see him! He was so angry and beat up! And he said to leave him alone. And, and, and…" She started to cry. Not her normal silent tears either. These were loud, angry, and hurt tears that just couldn't be contained any more. She cried louder than any time she had been picked on in her primary schools. Louder than every time she had gotten home and had made Emily worry. Up until this moment, Devoney hadn't realized just how important Emmett's friendship really was to her. It really was the thing that tied her to the magical world, and she had hurt him. Now nobody liked her and she was so very, very lonely. Alec scooted closer and wrapped his arms around her and let her cry.

OoO

Devoney wasn't sure how long she had cried into Alec's chest, or when she had fallen asleep, but when she woke early into the hours of the night she found herself wrapped in Alec's cloak outside the Gryffindor common room. She rose slowly and folded the cloak. Devoney checked her watch, the hands read out: 2:30 am. Questions like how she got there, or where Alec had disappeared to, soon took a back seat in Devoney's mind as Emmett burst through the portrait hole, panic racing through his eyes. He ran right pass her, only to stop ten feet away and turn around quickly.

"Devoney!" He exclaimed as he raced over and flung his arms around her. Just as quickly as he had hugged her, he pulled away so he could look her in the eyes. "Where have you been? You never came back. I was really worried about you! I've been out looking for you. I was just about to go to the Headmistress!" Worry was laced through his voice and concern was in his eyes.

"You mean you don't hate me?" Devoney whispered, afraid of what he'd answer.

Emmett frowned. "Why would you even think that?" Devoney's bottom lip started to quiver. Alec had been right. Everything she had been afraid of, Emmett had dissolved with that simple sentence. She dropped Alec's cloak and threw her arms around his neck. Slightly surprised, Emmett hugged her close.

"Come on the." He whispered. "Let's get you to your room." Devoney allowed him to lead her into the common room. He reached down and picked up the cloak she had just thrown down. As he picked it up, he hesitated a moment when he recognized just who's cloak it really was. Playing ignorant to the fact, he handed it back to her and spoke the password.

"_Gee Wilikers Batman_."

It had been Alec's turn last to pick out the password, and his perchance towards muggle was shown in his choice.

Devoney leaned heavily against Emmett as they walked in. She was so happy that Emmett hadn't pressed her on where she had gone, or what she was doing with Alec's cloak. And Emmett was just glad she had come back at all. He had already lost his brother to the passages of the castle, he didn't need to lose his friend as well

"So, what was in the letter?" He asked as they paused for a moment by the fireplace. There was a chill in the early winter's air.

Devoney's thoughts immediately flew to the threatening letter she had gotten earlier that day. "I'll tell you about it in the morning, alright?" She was simply too exhausted to talk about it. "What did those boys want to talk to you about?"

Emmett paused at the question. "I'll tell you in the morning." He mirrored her own answer, and to be honest, Devoney couldn't be happier. Things always didn't seem as bad after a good night's sleep.

They shared a smile and Emmett reached down and took her hand. "It's all going to work out." He promised.

Devoney squeezed his hand back. "I know." She answered softly with a smile.

With one last wave good night, they both moved to their dormitories staircases and headed up to their rooms, the evening's unpleasantness left behind at the fire.

Once inside the first year's room, the sight of the heavy velvet curtains tightly set around Tavi's bed, were a harsh reminder of what was going on. Removing her own cloak and tossing in on her bed, Devoney set about undoing her skirt. As she reached back for the zipper her hand brushed against a piece of paper.

Pinned to the bottom of her skirt was a note, written in Alec's neat, loopy hand writing. She released the pin holding it in place and moved over to one of the moon filled windows to read it.

Dev,

I don't want you fretting about Emmett's injury. It is my turn to be at fault. He was defending my honour this time. He can't stand it if someone is saying bad things about his family. You need to smile and breath. You'll get through this.

Have a good day then,

: )

A small happy face scrawled at the bottom signed off the letter instead of a signature. Devoney couldn't help but smile back at it. She turned from the window and reached over to her nightstand and pulled out a leather bound book. Emily had bought it for her to keep her treasures in before she had left. She secured Alec's note carefully in place and then hid it back between her bed and nightstand. She walked over to the large mirror that was used by all the girls on the far side of the room. She straightened up her shoulders and stood at her full four foot four.

"I, am Devoney Alice Gray Callaghan." She whispered at her reflection. She was making a statement, but that statement needn't wake the other sleeping girls. "I am eleven years old, an Aries, and I have type O negative blood. I have been bullied before, but this has got to stop. I refuse to have my friends get hurt." She stared hard at her reflection as she testified before her silent audience. She was after all her own toughest critic. "This is where I belong, and no one is going to say otherwise. I will be the best at whatever they want me to be. If they think I can't do magic, then I'll get the top in my class. If it's because I can't fly a broom, then I'll get a spot on the quidditch team next year. If they challenge me to a dual, I will NOT lose." Devoney reached up and put a hand on the mirror. Her reflection reached back and joined hands. "I will get through this, and I am going to get my friends back." Satisfied with her personal testimony, Devoney finished changing and crawled under the quilt on her bed.

Tomorrow was going to be a new day; one where she'd get yet another chance to make things right and prove herself to everyone. Now that she knew Emmett would be there with her, she was confident she could get through it all.

Be darned to all Mrs. Malfoy was worth, Devoney was her own person. Professor Adiar and Emmett's mother needed to realize that. Devoney rolled over and pulled the covers close. A content smile fell upon her lips as she drifted into sleep. For the first time since that howler had arrived two weeks ago, Devoney felt she was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

She didn't stay awake long enough to see Tavi's face poke out from behind her curtains. Tears were running down the small blonde's face. She had been so scared when Devoney had just up and vanished from the common room. Tavi had never been so frightened that Devoney may have done something foolish and was never going to come back. She lay back under her covers. She too wished with all her might that this was over. She wasn't even sure why it was happening. All Tavi knew was that she missed her friend. Older brother or not, she was going to fix this.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! What do you think the letters to the Wealsey children stated? Also, any other HHr shippers hear about how JK Rowling admits that Hermione should have married Harry and just feel so frustrated? Bah! I know it's been ~7 years, but still! We were right all along! :P

Have a great day everyone!


End file.
